Slave Driver
by cutecrazyice
Summary: For the world is cruel, and so is life. Now, she must put aside her heartaches and go on a mission with the one boy who betrayed her, and the one man who abandoned them - all this, to save the most precious person in their lives. KakaSaku, SasuSaku
1. Bring back the Dead

**Chapter One  
Bring Back the Dead**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Shizune."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"I want you to read this."

There was the shuffle of papers, as Shizune carefully deposited the scrolls she was carrying at a nearby empty table. Then, there was the soft sound of footsteps, as Shizune approached the Hokage's desk, where a woman with blond hair, large breasts and a beautiful face was situated, sitting down, with a troubled crease on her forehead.

Not, of course, that Shizune was going to mention that crease—if she did, it was likely she was going to get suspended for a week.

Silently, the Hokage's assistant took the scroll being handed to her. She gave her mentor a curious look, before inclining her head down, and proceeding to lower her eyes to the small sheet of rice paper, with silk adorning its edges. It looked ordinary enough—the type of scroll that middle-class men or leaders usually sent for invitations to functions or the likes.

She began to read. Silently, of course, and fast. As the message sank in, and as she got to the bottom of the page, it was all Shizune could do not to gasp out loud, and to ignore the worry curling in her stomach.

Or to drop the scroll, for that matter.

She had gone from curious to pale in a matter of seconds.

"Tsunade-sama! This is—this is—" Shizune stopped talking after a moment, not really sure of what to say. Shocked beyond belief, she gave the scroll back to the other and proceeded to stand there, waiting for what the blond, older woman had to say. In all her life, she had never seen her mentor look so troubled, because nothing usually fazed the woman—but reading the scroll, she understood where the worry was coming from.

"I know what you mean, Shizune," Tsunade finally replied calmly, albeit a weary sigh coming out of her lips. She looked up, her face grim.

In an instant, honey eyes met black.

Something cold, and dark, and unreadable, passed between them.

"We need to rescue them, don't we, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked softly.

"Do you even have to ask?" Tsunade intoned, raising an eyebrow. "Of course we do. Not only because one is the Kazekage's sister—the other is one of us. One of our best. I will not leave them to die." This was said in such a firm tone, Shizune had no doubt action would indeed be taken.

Frowning, Tsunade looked down at the scroll again, the crease in her forehead going deeper. She seemed to be thinking. "We need a team of ninjas. The Kazekage has already sent out one team for the mission. They're already out there."

"But Tsunade-sama, it's a difficult mission. We would likely be sending our ninjas to their deaths—"

The blond woman raised a fisted hand, and pounded it firmly on her desk—immediately, said desk cracked, and then splintered into two. Shizune blinked, then snapped her mouth shut, knowing any more words would only anger Tsunade even more.

"We have to try," Tsunade said firmly. "One team—most of them to survey, and around two to blend in. They will have to be a part of this different world, to be able to save their comrades."

"It's a dangerous world, Tsunade-sama," Shizune murmured quietly.

Tsunade nodded. "I know. That's why we need our top shinobi for this."

For a moment, the Hokage eyed the scroll again, a battle of questions going through her eyes. Then, those eyes cleared, and she nodded, as if already decided.

"Get me Sakura."

"Sakura?" Shizune asked uncertainly.

"Yes. And the Uchiha."

"Sasuke??" Shizune exclaimed incredulously—now her eyes widened, as if she could not believe what was being said. "But Tsunade-sama, the circumstances—the two—"

"Are you questioning my decisions, Shizune?" Tsunade demanded angrily.

"Er..n—no, Tsunade-sama," Shizune stammered, turning red at the implication. "Of course not."

"Very well. You go get them _now_!I don't care if there have been circumstances between them in the past year—they are two of our best and they need to be on this mission. Is that understood?"

"H—hai, Tsunade-sama."

"Very good."

"Who will be the others in the team?"

A pause. Then Tsunade shook her head.

"I haven't decided yet. Shizune, get me a list of our best shinobi in the active roster. Now. Then get those two."

"Hai."

"What are you waiting for? Go!"

"H—hai!"

With a last bow, Shizune exited the Hokage's office as fast as she could, wanting to deliver the message and get it over with—but at the same time, not wanting to. She was worried, and her mind was in turmoil, because in truth, this wasn't a mission to laugh about. It was highly dangerous, and highly risky, and if _she_ was the Hokage, _she_ would not be sending her own shinobi to such a plight—to such a dark world.

Okay, that was a lie.

If Shizune had to be honest (and she was, most of the time)...she would do the same thing herself, not as the Hokage—but as a _human._

As a friend.

But...at the risk of harming other friends?

Shizune sighed. She had no right to question decisions. Tsunade knew best, and Tsunade always made sound judgments—except when drinking and gambling, of course. But the woman was sober now.

Shizune was just going to have to trust her. Completely.

Even if her gut instinct was telling her that something was bound to go very, very wrong.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was the dark clouds in the sky that told Haruno Sakura it wasn't going to be a pleasant day. A kind of omen, that was what it was—and if there was one thing she didn't like, it was omens.

Omens meant _disaster._

The message owl was the second clue. Now she was almost positive the day wasn't going to be pleasant.

Sakura entered the Hokage's tower quickly, annoyance and curiosity written all over her face. Annoyance because she had just been interrupted by said owl (very noisy delivery owl, too) while having an interesting lecture for the new medic-nin hopefuls of Konoha hospital; curiosity, because in actuality, the Hokage had never interrupted her lectures for something as trivial as "a meeting to talk about your future", as the message paper had so bluntly put it. That was Tsunade for you—always finding cryptic ways to get someone's interest fast.

It had to be something important.

When Sakura finally reached the top office's door, she took deep breaths, to lessen the impact her running bout had on her lungs. When she was ready, she took one more breath, and proceeded to knock.

"Tsunade-shishou?"

A pause. Then...

"Come in."

She opened the door silently, quickly assessing the room. She wasn't surprised to see Shizune standing there, right beside Tsunade—Ton-ton, of course, nestled quite comfortably in her arms. Sakura went forward, glancing at Shizune to give a bright smile. Shizune smiled back, albeit distractedly.

It was that smile that brought the third clue.

Puzzled, Sakura turned to her mentor. The older woman was not looking at her—in fact, she barely even acknowledged Sakura's presence. She was looking down at her desk (splintered?), at a piece of unwrapped scroll that had neat writings in it—yet she didn't seem to be reading it. Her eyes, in Sakura's opinion, were just trained there, not moving, as if trying to meditate on something. Her hands were in front of her, at the desk too, clasping one another tightly.

She didn't speak for a long time.

Still puzzled, Sakura turned her gaze back to Shizune, trying to ask what was wrong through her green eyes. Shizune merely smiled again. It was a reassuring smile this time, one that seemed to offer silent comfort and support.

Comfort for what? Support at what?

Total silence. Nobody seemed willing to tell.

That was the fourth clue, and she couldn't take anymore.

"Shishou?"

Silence, again.

"What's wrong?"

Tsunade looked up. Sakura saw, for the first time that day, the emotions twirling in her mentor's face. Worry. Fear. Anxiety.

Determination.

Then her face shut off, leaving only a placid mask of calm serenity.

It wasn't Tsunade, her mentor, in front of her now—it was Tsunade the Hokage.

And it wasn't a comforting sight.

Silence.

"Shishou?" Sakura prodded gently.

Tsunade sighed. "I have a mission for you, Sakura."

"What kind of mission?" Sakura asked.

"One that might change the course of your life."

"Shishou, you're not speaking very clearly," Sakura reprimanded. Shizune seemed to wince, but Sakura ignored that. Tsunade seemed to ignore it, too, as she was gazing at the pink-haired kunoichi almost in question.

"Sakura?"

"Yes, shishou?"

"How is the Uchiha?"

It wasn't the question Sakura was expecting.

At all.

She immediately stiffened, her eyes staring wide and confused at her mentor. But recovering quickly, Sakura instantly shut out all expression from her face, and tried to look as placid and as calm as possible.

It's been months. She had no right to feel _anything._

"I wouldn't know, shishou," she finally replied, her voice even. "I haven't talked to him in months."

A pause.

Tsunade spoke again.

"How is his wedding coming along?"

This time, Sakura couldn't stop the hurt from flickering in her green eyes. From pounding, however slightly, in her insides.

She steeled herself.

"I should not be the person you ask, shishou," she said, softly. Coolly. "Ask the wife-to-be. Or better yet...ask him."

Silence.

Tsunade nodded. "Very well. I shall follow your advice. Uchiha, you can come in now."

Slowly, the front door opened.

Slowly, Sakura froze.

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" His deep, emotionless voice pierced the air like a bucket of cold water being thrown in someone's face. Inwardly shocked, Sakura kept her eyes on her mentor, her confused look slowly turning into a glare.

Naturally, the Hokage ignored this. Instead, she in turn eyed the raven-haired man in observation, as, with the grace of a well-seasoned shinobi, Uchiha Sasuke glided inside the room, and proceeded to stand right beside the pink-haired kunoichi—completely ignoring her as he did so.

Sakura ignored him in turn.

And the tension was so, so palpable.

"Yes, Uchiha, I wanted to see you," Tsunade finally replied. "How is the wedding coming along?"

From the corner of her eye, Sakura saw him nod his head.

"It's coming along fine, Hokage-sama," he said calmly. "We will be married in a few months' time."

A pause.

"And the baby?" This was asked quite politely.

"...the baby is fine."

"Delivery in a few months?"

"Yes."

Tsunade stared. Nodded her head. Then she spoke again.

This time, all politeness was gone.

"Good. Now I order you to cancel the wedding."

It was like a second bucket of iced water was being thrown.

In everyone's face this time.

Shizune bit her lip, quite worriedly. Sakura's mouth dropped slightly open—though she still had the presence of mind to close it, and struggle to look unaffected by all the news being thrown her way.

Sasuke became rigid at once.

"Excuse me?" His voice became even colder than before.

"Are you deaf, Uchiha?" Tsunade nearly yelled, glaring at the stoic man. "I said cancel the wedding! I have a mission for you and Sakura, and some more shinobi—one that will probably take you around a year or so, if my estimation is correct."

"Years?" Sakura blurted out.

"I decline the mission—" Sasuke began to say.

"I won't allow it!" Tsunade cut in.

Sasuke's stoic face began to become one of anger.

"And why not?" he asked, voice becoming dangerous now.

Silence.

Then Tsunade said the exact words that Sakura had never expected she'd ever hear at all.

The very words that made her blood run very, very cold.

"Because you are going on a mission to rescue the former fiancé of the woman you are going to marry."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tsunade liked to believe she was a fair Hokage. Konoha was proof enough of that—the peaceful citizens, the prosperous economy, the growing number of allies and the lessening of crime rates.

Hell, she would even take credit for being a part in the elimination of the last of the Akatsuki threat.

But alas—Akatsuki wasn't going to be the last threat.

And looking at two of her best shinobi's faces—one shocked and drained of almost all color, the other rigid and cold and unbelieving—she wondered if she was doing the right thing.

Then she frowned. Why was she even asking? Wondering?

_Of course_ she was doing the right thing.

She was the Hokage, dammit.

And she was going to make sure—with every ounce of her backbone and breath—that her long-lost shinobi was going to be rescued from the very epitome of hell.

That boy was going to remain alive.

As familiar shinobi face after familiar shinobi face entered the office, expressions ranging from curious to weary to cheerful, Tsunade, Shizune and the two they had called in first remained silent, for different reasons. It was obvious why Sakura was silent—her initial struggle not to tremble in front of everybody was clear, at least in Tsunade's eyes. As for Sasuke's silence, she couldn't really tell—the man really was too unreadable for his own good.

When the last shinobi called appeared, the door finally closed.

And the Hokage—all business-like and no-nonsense—finally spoke once more.

"There is a new organization currently residing in Snow country, one that's called Haburi."

Pause.

"They are the new Akatsuki, except they are very different."

Some eyebrows rose. Yamanaka Ino, who was standing right beside Sakura, had both of her eyebrows in the air.

"How different, Hokage-sama?" she asked.

"Well," the Hokage replied. "Instead of banding together to take power and money by creating wars as the Akatsuki had done in the past, the Haburi does it by only one means—slavery."

"Common," Nara Shikamaru commented, from where he was standing in between Ino, and a very silent Hyuuga Neji. "Tsunade-sama, what's the catch?"

Tsunade's eyes gleamed at the question. Then she turned grim again.

"Ah, you're right. There is one catch. You see, they don't enslave you—unless you are in the bingo book. And they don't do it for power to control the world—only for money. How, you ask? Well, to make it short...they hold battles. Slave versus slave. Fight to death. It's a betting thing, like horses being gambled on. But I don't believe that's all—after all, slaves have other uses." The way she said this, it was already obvious what she was trying to imply. "And Shikamaru?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Your wife's still alive. She's one of their slaves."

Everybody became rigid with shock at that.

"...and they have Naruto."

And then...utter chaos.

Shikamaru nearly choked at the news, his eyes going wide and his mouth dropping very wide open. Neji blinked. Inuzuka Kiba muttered some obscenities, Akamaru barking along with him. Ino visibly paled, and stumbled a few steps backward—she would have fallen down, if not for Sakura grabbing ahold of her arm, and getting her steady again. She looked at Sakura, who nodded. She turned to look at Shikamaru, something like hurt flickering in her blue eyes.

Sasuke remained steadily, coldly detached.

Rock Lee, the last one inside the room, was the only one who managed to speak up in coherent sentences.

Or yell, to be precise.

"Hokage-sama! By the power of youth, let us go and rescue them right now! It wouldn't even take long, we can let springtime prevail and—"

"Silence, Lee," Tsunade cut in.

He shut up at once. Sighing, the blond Sannin rubbed her forehead, waiting until the noise died down to a decent level (she was in no mood to further splinter her desk with more poundings).

"It was an ally of Sunagakure who informed the Kazekage of his sister's whereabouts—the sister that he had thought was dead for three years now." Her eyes flickered to Shikamaru for a moment, who looked to be still in some kind of shock. "I called all of you because this is not an easy task—I did not call Hinata because this news might shock her enough to do damage to her unborn child."

Tension rose. Immediately, Ino stopped glancing worriedly at Shikamaru, and turned to glare at Sasuke.

Sasuke ignored her.

"You cannot just infiltrate any time you want," Tsunade continued. "Mostly because of one thing. Their base camp in Snow Country has a shield—once you get in, you cannot get out. Only the leader, a man named Humoki Kane, has power to control it. Maybe his trusted minions, too—of that, I am uncertain. But why do you think none of the slaves has escaped yet? Like I said, it's not easy. They are bound—by what, we don't know yet. But one thing's for sure—if it's powerful enough that Naruto hasn't escaped yet, then it _is _pretty powerful."

Silence. Tsunade went on.

"Now, the mission. I don't need all of you to go inside—that would be suicide. Three of you will be for surveying from the outside—Shikamaru, since you are the head tactician, I suggest you be part of this group. Two will be for spying—partial undercover, heading in and out the base, to assess the situation. I don't care what you will pose as, be it gamblers or whatever the hell you come up with—it's your call. The remaining two, will be the main undercover spies of this mission. Sakura?"

"Yes, shishou?"

"I want you to become a slave."

It was like Tsunade had suggested that Sakura kill herself, judging from almost everyone's expressions.

Sakura stiffened, but remained silent.

Ino, however, did not.

"But Tsunade-sama! She's a woman! You said yourself their slaves had other uses other than for battles. A woman—"

"Are you questioning me, Ino?" Tsunade asked sharply.

Ino stopped shouting. "Er—no, Hokage-sama...but—"

"I'll do it."

All heads in the room (except Neji and Tsunade and Sasuke) turned to look at the firm, decided voice.

Lee gaped. "But Sakura-chan! You can't—"

"It's Naruto," Sakura cut in. "I'll do anything for him."

Tsunade's eyes softened a bit. "Are you sure, Sakura?" she asked. Yes, she may have suggested—but if her apprentice declined, she could have easily picked someone else.

Silence.

Then Sakura nodded her head. "Yes. I'm sure," she replied softly.

Something in the blond Sannin's heart screamed at her not to allow this—but she nodded her head back all the same. She was the Hokage first—the surrogate mother last.

It was simply how things were.

"Very well," Tsunade said. "Sasuke?"

A pause.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"You will be her master."

It seemed that, whatever next news she piled up, everybody wasn't finished reacting.

This time, the tension could clearly be cut by a knife.

This time, everybody (even the emotionless Uchiha himself) went rigid with more shock.

"But Hoka—" Ino began again—then she snapped her mouth shut, as honey eyes glared at her.

Sakura paled again, nearly trembling—her blond female best friend held firm on her arm, just like she had on the blond a few moments earlier.

After some seconds, the paleness lessened. Sakura's eyes met Tsunade's—green on honey. They stared at each other in silence.

Something akin to understanding passed there.

Finally, Sakura quietly nodded her head again.

"Okay, shi—"

"I refuse."

And once more, the shock increased.

Tsunade's included.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked, staring at the Uchiha in disbelief. Sasuke, whose shock had turned back to no emotion, merely stared back, onyx eyes calm.

"I will not be a part of this mission," he intoned.

"W—what?" Sakura demanded softly, her eyes widening. "Are you kidding me?"

He ignored her.

"He is dead to me—and I am marrying Hinata."

"Why?!" Ino screeched.

"Simple. Because she is carrying my child."

And with that, the Uchiha left.

And chaos once again ensued.

"That bastard!" Kiba growled angrily. "Hokage-sama, you can't tell me you're allowing that! That's unspeakable!"

"His youthfulness is being wasted by such arrogance—"

"STUPID PRICK! STUPID, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING—" Ino was turning into a madwoman.

Shizune was now fisting her hands, so hard that Ton-ton squealed, and flew out of her grasp. Akamaru barked hysterically.

Neji merely glared at the front door. "He is not worth our time."

"You are right, Hyuuga," Tsunade said, sighing. Kami—she was getting a major headache. "But if he doesn't want to, we are going to have a difficult—Sakura! Where the hell are you going?"

But Sakura wasn't listening. Disentangling herself from everyone, she stalked to the front door, turning back only enough to give a short, curt—angry, and very determined—reply.

Her green eyes gleamed with something unreadable. Something too deep to comprehend.

"To make sure this mission gets done—even if I have to drag Sasuke back half-dead."

She slammed the door as she got out.

Now, it was Tsunade who was yelling obscenities.

"Dammit! Why is this even happening!?"

Everybody was too agitated to reply.

"Alright!" she snarled. "Obviously that stupid Uchiha is _not _gonna be the inside man—any volunteers?"

"I shall do it!" Lee yelled. "My youthfulness will—"

"Anyone else?" Tsunade cut in. Really, Lee was good—just not at undercover.

The youth speech would just give too much away.

"I—" Neji began.

"Not you," Tsunade interrupted. "Your Byakugan is for surveying."

Kiba stepped forward. "Then I—"

"Let me do it, Hokage-sama."

The last voice had come not from the people in the room. No.

It came from somewhere behind the tower window.

Slowly, a head of silver hair peeked in.

Slowly, the shock—yet again—increased.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Lee proclaimed. "My idol's eternal rival!"

Kakashi's hand appeared, to give out a wave. "Hello, Lee."

It was only then that everyone noticed the blood, now dripping all over the windowsill.

And, as he climbed in further, the rest of his body wasn't exactly in good shape either.

"Kakashi-san!" Shizune exclaimed in panic. "You're—I—you're back! You're injured!"

Tsunade merely stared at him in shock.

Silence.

Then...

"How long have you been back?!" she demanded.

An eye crinkled. "Just now. And I couldn't help overhearing. And volunteering."

"You're six months late from a damn _simple _mission and now you want to volunteer?!" Unable to control her anger now, Tsunade pounded her splintered desk—it immediately shattered into a million pieces. The others winced at this.

Kakashi merely nodded. "There were complications. As for your second question...of course. I volunteer."

"Why?!"

It was only then that Tsunade noticed the extent of the injuries, and not just the blood. No, they weren't just scratches. There were broken bones, too.

How could the man even walk?

The answer came easily, as the silver-haired special jounin took a step forward—and promptly lost balance. He fell to the floor with a loud thud.

But not before uttering one very meaningful sentence.

And not before Tsunade saw something dark and uncomprehensible and utterly, absolutely dangerous swirl in his exposed eye.

Like pain. But of the deeper, more intense kind.

"Because I will do anything to get Naruto. Alive."

He lost consciousness right away.

As Shizune and Tsunade dismissed everyone, and went on to heal the unconscious man, the Hokage thought. And thought.

And finally, she decided.

Yes.

Anything for Naruto.

...but why did she have the feeling that things weren't working out the way they were supposed to be?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**_a/n:_** _And here it is...the first chapter of Slave Driver. This is going to be a mix of action/adventure/drama/romance, everybody. Hope you enjoyed reading so far. No adventure yet, but I promise more is yet to come._

_As you can see, there are a lot of complications. Like the Sakura-Sasuke-Hinata-Naruto thing. How did that happen? And there are other complicated pairings, too, which I'll let you guess on. Don't worry, though - things will be revealed as the story unravels._

_So...continue? I'd love to have your feedback. Happy reading, guys. Hope you review. :)_


	2. Old Wounds

**Chapter Two  
****Old Wounds**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Just because she still cared about him, didn't mean that she was going to allow him to get away with what he'd said, what he'd done. What he was doing.

No—she was going to give him a piece of her mind, even if it was the last thing she did.

"Sasuke, stop!"

She was furious. She was very, very furious. It didn't matter that they hadn't spoken to each other in months—it didn't even matter that she didn't want to talk to him yet, that she wasn't ready, that she didn't want to be caught up once more in emotions too complicated to understand at all. Her heart was beating too wildly, her mind focused on just one thing.

Naruto was important. She would never let him down.

"Sasuke, I said stop!"

He didn't stop.

When Sakura finally managed to catch up with the raven-haired Uchiha near one of the training grounds, she grabbed hold of his arm, and viciously pulled on. Because of her insane strength, there was nothing that Sasuke could do, except shrug her hand off, and pause.

He gave her a cold, cold look. "Sakura, go awa—"

_Slap!_

He staggered backwards, as the impact of her hand on his cheek hit hard.

"You stupid bastard! Is it that easy for you?!" She was yelling at the top of her lungs, her green eyes blazing with fury and disbelief. "You would just leave Naruto to suffer?!"

Sasuke glared at her angrily, rubbing his cheek. Then, the anger went off, as he went back to his usual emotionless expression.

"It's none of your busine—"

"The _hell_ it's none of my business!" she snapped. "What is _wrong _with you?"

He regarded her coolly. Calmly. "Nothing's wrong with me. He's dead to me."

"He's _not _dead—dammit, Sasuke, he's our teammate!"

"Hn."

"And you're marrying his fiancé. The girl he loves—"

His onyx eyes narrowed. "She's my fiancé now."

"But that was when you thought he was dea—"

"I told you," he said sharply, "he's dead to me. Hinata's carrying my child, and—"

"Shut up!"

He stared at her, not finishing his sentence. She stared back, furiously.

"And that's all that's ever been important to you, isn't it? _Your_ clan, _your_ life—"

"It's something you cannot give me, Sakura."

Sakura staggered back, as if slapped. She paled for a moment, before regaining her composure once more. It hurt. Kami, it hurt so much, even after all this time.

Just because she was trying not to love him any longer, didn't mean that she had stopped altogether.

"I—"

"You're infertile. You cannot give me children."

It was the bitter truth.

"I did the right thing."

But that didn't mean the truth was always right.

Slowly, Sakura let herself feel, for one last time.

"You cheated on me," she whispered, softly. She closed her eyes, letting the memory wash over her. "You cheated on me, with the fiancé of our missing best friend, while she was grieving and drunk and out of her damn mind." She opened her eyes—green orbs pinning his, daring him to look away. He didn't. "You're going to leave your best friend, the guy who saved your life more times than you have ever deserved, to die and suffer—just because you want to revive your stupid clan. Just because you want to be _selfish. _Tell me how that is right, Sasuke."

Sasuke kept his gaze on her, unreadable. Untouchable.

Then he looked off into the distance.

"I don't love you, Sakura," he intoned, calmly.

Something in her cracked, and yearned to break free. She reeled it in, and held steady.

"Yes. You just fucked me countless times to try and knock me up," she murmured, just as calmly. "Too bad it didn't work, huh?"

Silence.

Something flickered in his eyes—but it was gone before she could fully comprehend it, or take notice.

"It doesn't matter," he said, voice cool. Dismissive. Like none of what she was saying mattered. She watched, with steady eyes, and a raging heart, as he prepared to leave. Prepared to walk away, because he couldn't be bothered with _anything_ that had to do with her. With Naruto.

She didn't let him.

With all the force she could, without totally destroying the place they were in, Sakura molded chakra into her hand, and slammed her fist down on the ground. It shook at once, sending distinct tremors up to where he was. She straightened up afterwards, and still with fisted hands, shook with barely restrained fury.

"If you take one more step away, Uchiha, I swear I will—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, because the next instant, he was suddenly gone—only reappearing behind her, his warmth radiating in waves. Before she could turn around, he suddenly had her hands behind her, in a tight grip. He held on to her fists, so she would not be able to mold chakra at all. Sakura let out a breath, as he slammed her front against a large nearby wooden target practice—not hard, and not painful, but firm enough to keep her in place. He pressed his own body firmly behind her, making sure she would not be able to move at all.

But Sakura had never been one to be subdued so easily.

Without further ado, she began struggling.

"Damn you, Sasuke! Why the hell are you doing this? Why the hell—"

He pressed on tighter.

"Let me go! I—"

Tighter.

"—can't let you do this—"

"It's over, Sakura."

...tighter.

She stopped struggling at his words, and tried very hard not to tremble. To breathe. His voice was now soft, and very, very final. Somehow, she knew he wasn't talking about Naruto, but about something else altogether.

She couldn't breathe.

"I'm getting married," he said. "Stop it."

She didn't move—not because she physically couldn't. She just...couldn't. Sakura felt his grip on her softening, loosening. She felt him turn her around, until she was facing him, her back now the one on the jagged wood. He held her wrists to her sides, firmly.

Green eyes met onyx, and for a moment, nothing gave.

She spoke, in the lowest, lowest voice.

"Look me in the eye, Sasuke, and tell me you don't feel anything anymore," she said. She whispered. "Not for me. Not for Naruto."

Silence.

His grip on her wrists tightened, nearly to the point of pain. His eyes held on.

"Don't be annoying," he said.

"Look me in the eye, and tell me—"

"Don't be—"

"I _said_ look me in the eye, and—"

Her breath came out in a whoosh, as his hands released her wrists now, and went to grip the back of her neck, her hair, and pull her closer. She put her palms out to prevent further contact with him, as his grip became tight once more. Nearly unforgiving. She wanted nothing more than to sink in a corner, and cry her heart out. To let her hurt and weaknesses just go away, and leave her all alone. To let herself find happiness, somewhere in her life.

Because she wasn't happy. She had never been, for a long time now.

She didn't know how to be again.

"Stop this," he intoned.

"Anything for Naruto," she hissed.

"I'm marrying her—"

"Anything for Naruto—" she repeated, more determinedly.

"You can't give me what I want."

Her heart cracked once more, but she ignored it, and ignored everything, as she stared at him with all the strength she could muster.

"Anything for Na—"

His hands let go of her hair, and went to her upper arms, yanking her even closer. She stopped her words, for a fraction of a second, as something flickered in his eyes—a hint of some fury, some emotion, she couldn't quite identify. Maybe it was resentment. Maybe it was something else. His hands, once again, tightened. So did hers, as she gripped his shirt front, with all intensity and firmness and inner, deeper confusion. She knew they were reflected in her eyes, knew he could read them.

Onyx met green, openly.

"Sakura."

He was going to get married, to someone else—the woman he cheated on her with. The one who now carried his child. The child she could never give him.

As her heart beat wildly, and her body nearly succumbed to its trembling, Sakura didn't do what she wanted. She didn't do what her heart screamed for her to do, screamed for her to take. Instead, she did the right thing.

She let go of his shirt.

And she let go of him.

"For Naruto," she whispered, her green eyes swirling with what she couldn't say. She backed away, away from him and the closeness that she couldn't stand.

_I love you._

"Please," she said.

_But it's over._

"For Naruto, Sasuke," she murmured.

_It has to be over._

There was something unspeakable going on, as they stared at each other, not moving. The tension was in the air, just like before in the office—but it was a different kind of tension now. He kept his eyes unreadable, but even he, the great Uchiha Sasuke that he was, couldn't keep them unreadable forever.

He stepped forward.

But he was stopped by a very familiar voice.

"N—Naruto? Naruto's still alive?"

A hitching breath. A panicked cry.

And then Sakura could do nothing but stare in shock, and dread, as pearly-white eyes looked at them both, before rolling behind her head.

Hinata had fainted on the ground.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

She was called from the intercom, by a very urgent voice—a slightly panicked, yet very controlled voice. Despite being in the middle of a very difficult operation, the Hokage raced off at once, to the front desk of the Konoha hospital.

"Sakura! What happened?!"

"Shishou, Hinata! Premature labor!"

She should have known this would happen.

Tsunade scanned the situation for a moment, looking at her pink-haired apprentice who had something like worry in her eyes, and the raven-haired Uchiha who was clearly trying to control his anger. Trying to remain calm. Then she nodded her head, and spoke clearly.

"Go attend to her. I have things to do."

"But shishou! You're needed!"

"I said I have things to do, Sakura."

The Uchiha stepped forward, his hands fisting. His eyes were cold depths of disapproval.

"My wife—"

"Wife-to-be, Uchiha," Tsunade interrupted sharply, narrowing her eyes. Then she whipped those eyes towards Sakura, and let them go hard. "Sakura, don't just stand there! Do your job! I still have to make sure your ex-sensei's gonna pull through."

For a moment, Sakura stilled. "Kakashi—?"

"SAKURA! I SAID GO! SHIZUNE, CONTACT THE HYUUGA LEADER AND TELL HIM THE NEWS!" Tsunade roared. Shizune, who was walking towards them with surgical utensils in hand, squeaked slightly at the loud, scary voice, before getting on the move, Ton-ton at her heels. Sakura snapped out of her seeming daze, and went on medic mode at once, her shocked green eyes blanking over, and her lips thinning in a firm line. She nodded her head.

"Hai!"

Then she sped off with the Hyuuga heiress, other medics in tow, not looking once at anybody—not even at him.

Tsunade glared at Sasuke once more, only to be met by calm eyes.

"And you—you are going on the damn mission. And that's final," she ordered.

He remained silent.

Cursing under her breath, she turned around and sped off, in the opposite direction. She didn't notice that there was still blood on her hands, now quietly dripping on the floor, making stains there. She didn't notice that she was automatically molding chakra again, even now, as she walked—no, nearly _ran—_the brightly-lit, empty hallways, towards her destination. She didn't notice these things, her mind only on one focus, one goal, one task.

But Sasuke did.

And he looked on for a while, before going his own way.

To his wife-to-be.

His child-to-be.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_An hour later, Hinata was sleeping, and safe—but only her._

_It was over. It was done._

_Sasuke had long gone._

_Sakura stared, in a mix of emotions, a madness of conflicting turmoil. She trembled slightly and cried silently, in the corner chair of the room, in grief, in anger, in confusion, in overwhelming sadness._

_Hinata had given birth, alright—to a still-born. A baby boy._

_One with blond hair and pearly blue eyes._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Hatake Kakashi was sometimes a stupid man—he didn't know what was best for him, and he wasn't the keenest guy when it came to taking care of himself. Sometimes, because of this stupidity, he always got himself in the worst of situations, especially during missions—up to the point where his comrades ended up either too dead or too uninjured (or sometimes, too injured), while he himself was practically on the verge of knocking on death's door...again. It was always the extremes for him, never the middle point.

He knew, of course, what stupidity he had come across, time and time again. He was aware of them. After all, he was the one who put himself there. He also knew it was stupid to expect that the moment he woke up, things would be back to normal—just like in the past.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the white ceiling. At first, he had thought it was salvation—an end to the suffering he had endured himself and others. Then he began to notice the dirt and some cobwebs, and realized that heaven wouldn't have such things. Heaven was _clean._

_So I'm not exactly in heaven._

Well, at least he was still alive.

Then he saw, out of the corner of his eye, an all-too-familiar blur of pink.

Kakashi adjusted his eyes for a moment, before turning to where the pink was. He looked at her for a moment, drinking in the familiar, yet quite-strange sight. She had her back turned on him, her hands fluttering all over the table in brisk, quiet movements.

"Sakura."

He saw her hands still, her whole body almost freezing. Then, came the gradual vanishing of the rigidity of her shoulders, as she resumed moving her hands.

But she didn't relax.

"You're a bastard, you know that?"

He blinked. If he wasn't the ever-unfazed Copy ninja, he would have gaped, too.

"Vanishing for months and scaring us all like that," she muttered, slowly. "Making us think you fucked up your mission, and just _died_ somewhere without us getting to bury you." Her voice had gotten louder. Angrier. "I know you've always been self-sacrificing, to the point of stupidity, but really...I've had enough deaths as it is."

Her voice was now low, and nearly tired.

"Don't add another one."

It was then that he suddenly remembered what he had been doing before he got to this hospital. He had been about to give the Hokage the heads-up, to let her know that he was indeed alive—not exactly kicking, but very much alive. It was a given, because knowing the blond Sannin and her temper, not reporting in on the day you came back pretty much meant getting punched in the face and therefore receiving more injuries.

He had ended up listening in, and finding out things he knew he would not have been told under normal circumstances.

"How long?" he asked.

"You've been asleep around twelve hours now—"

"How long is Naruto missing?"

Her sentence faltered, and so did her voice. She still did not turn to look at him, but instead bent her head lower, as if concentrating on the task at hand. What she was doing, he had no idea.

"Too long," she murmured. She tilted her head to the side, and surveyed her work. Then, after a moment, she finally turned to him, holding out a long needle, a syringe, and a bottled medicine of some sort.

She looked like a mess.

Not ugly. Just...a mess.

Her eyes were a bit red, as if she had just cried herself to oblivion. Her skin was pale, paler than he had last seen it—and not of the healthy kind. She had bags under her eyes, so deep and so new-looking that he wondered for a moment if she had just acquired them recently, because of the crying.

Other than that, she looked quite the same. Same pink hair, same green eyes.

But no fire or sparkle in them.

Wordlessly, Sakura ventured forward, towards him, and silently gestured for him to raise his arm. He did, just as silently, and watched as she inserted the needle with the syringe in his upper arm, along with the deep purple liquid. He kept on watching, until the liquid all went inside his system—it was soothing, and he had no doubt in his mind she was the one who created it.

He turned his gaze to her.

"We'll rescue him," he confirmed.

"You're not coming," she stated. Slowly, she took the needle out, and dropped it and the other materials into a nearby metal tray.

"Sakura, you can't tell me what to do—" he began.

"Technically," she interrupted, "Since shishou made me your personal medic as of now...I can."

Silence.

"I'm coming. Don't stop me."

"You—"

"Naruto needs Team Seven."

Sakura stopped moving again, and slowly turned to look at him.

"There's no Team Seven anymore...sensei." Her voice was calm.

He didn't know why, but he was beginning to grow irritated with her supposed detachment and calmness. "Then we'll bring it back for the mission. Sasuke—"

"—is not coming," she intoned.

He froze, and met her stare again. For a moment, he saw something flicker in those green eyes, before being banked down.

Where was the sparkle? The happiness?

"...why?"

She closed her eyes, and turned back around.

"Because he's marrying Hinata. Restoring his clan. Of course he wouldn't have time to save his best friend."

The Hyuuga. Hinata. Naruto's one and only fiancé. And Sasuke. The Uchiha. Together.

Yes. If he wasn't the Copy ninja...he would definitely have gaped already. But since he was, Kakashi settled for a simple, unreadable stare.

_What about you, Sakura?_

Somehow, he knew that wasn't the right question to ask.

"There's still us, Sakura. To get Naruto," he said instead.

"Hmm," she merely replied.

"Sakura."

Sakura made a muffled noise in her throat, and turned back to face him, her eyes a bit angry again. "There's no us, Kakashi-sensei."

"Sa—"

"Not since you began running away. Again."

He shut his mouth. Found he couldn't defend himself—mostly because what she was saying had hit him, and hit him hard.

It was the truth, damn it. He _had_ been running away. But he had his reasons, and it wasn't like she could comprehend them.

"You blame yourself for Genma's death, I know that," she said.

He closed his eyes, at the mention of his comrade's name.

Another fallen one, to add to the already growing list.

_No, Sakura. That's not half the reason._

"But you can't keep running away. Don't be a coward," she continued, hands fisting now. "Don't be _selfish_."

Kakashi opened his eyes, and stared straight at her furious ones.

"I'm going on the mission," he murmured quietly. Firmly. "Don't stop me."

Silence.

Slowly, Sakura's fury started vanishing, replaced by weariness once more. He thought it looked somewhat like exasperation. Under normal circumstances, he would have laughed—but he knew this couldn't exactly be called a normal circumstance. No, not with so much already happening. Her hands had stopped fisting, and were now resting at her sides.

She sighed.

"Fine. I don't care," she murmured back.

He gave her his patented eye-crinkle. She ignored it, and quietly went for the door.

"Sakura."

She paused. She tilted her head, and turned to look at her side. She didn't speak, but he knew she was listening.

"What else changed?" he asked.

Silence.

"Everything," she replied.

Then she was out the door, before he could question her any further.

Kakashi sighed.

One year and six months was a long time to be gone. It was a given that everything would change. Heck, the moment Genma had died, while under his command...everything _had_ already changed from then on. He couldn't have people leaning on him anymore—people trusting him too much.

They ended up dead.

One year and six months ago, she had leaned on him, too. Had trusted him, with her whole heart. He couldn't have that. She deserved someone who could keep her safe, who would keep her out of harm's way.

Obviously, that wasn't Sasuke.

Obviously, even Naruto had failed, in some way.

His head hurting from thinking too much, his body still weary from the toll it had taken, Kakashi did what he thought stupid men always did, anyway, to let go of problems, and to will painful memories away.

He closed his eyes.

And he slept like a baby.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

She didn't know why she had come here, of all places—but she knew it was instinct and heart that had driven her to do so right now. It couldn't be her mind, because even her mind at the moment was protesting, too loudly and too annoying for its own good.

She hadn't come here in more than seven months.

Not since Naruto had disappeared from their lives.

"One miso ramen, please," she said softly.

The owner of Ichiraku was staring at her in surprise, to say the least. Actually...he was quite bug-eyed, to be more precise. Going to where she was seated at once, he gave her a friendly smile—the one he usually reserved for people he considered special, or friends of people he considered special.

It always, always came back to Naruto.

"Haruno-san!" he exclaimed, face alighting with excitement. "It's lovely to see you again! I haven't seen you in a long time!"

Sakura smiled truly, for the first time since being in the Hokage's office. It felt like years, to be honest.

"It's nice seeing you too, Teuchi-san," she said, warmly.

"Just one miso ramen?" the owner, Teuchi, asked. Sakura nodded her head.

The moment he was gone, Sakura let the smile slip off her face. She sighed, and stared at the linoleum countertop that was worn out and slightly dirty already. Not caring, she put her elbows there, and put her head on her hands. She closed her eyes.

Seven months ago, and she could still remember everything. Every single detail.

She remembered going to the hospital to see to a very wounded and nearly-dying Shino, Hinata crying quietly at his side. She remembered asking them where Naruto was, and seeing the Hyuuga going pale and nearly hysterical at the question. She remembered knowing then, at first thought (and just by looking at such a painful expression), that he had died. He had let himself be left behind, in order to save his teammates on that mission.

It had hurt like hell.

Of course, it wasn't to say that they didn't dispatch shinobi for search and rescue. She had been among them, on more than one occasion. They did search, in every possible place and corner they could—for about two weeks.

It was like he had vanished without a trace.

She remembered what a mess Hinata had been afterwards. Crying and stuttering and generally locking herself up, refusing to see anyone. Sakura knew that under any circumstance, she would have been persistent, and would have helped the girl get back on her two feet—but she remembered, that it was also during that time, that her own life had started taking its downward toll.

Sasuke had just found out she couldn't give him what he needed the most.

A child.

A future.

He had been there, always with her. They had always been together, ever since he'd come back from his quest for revenge. It had always been Sasuke and Sakura, Sakura and Sasuke—a fact that most of Konoha knew, and accepted, in a way. A fact that made her heart swell, and treasure every moment, because she loved him, and was proud and happy and simply _overwhelmed _that this time, he was finally loving her back.

Until the news. Until the sad, bitter truth.

She remembered the huge disappointment, the tension between them growing, growing. The distance. He had began becoming cold, colder than before.

Untouchable.

Unreachable.

She remembered crying over it. Crying over it, and cursing herself for being so lacking, so...weak. She had picked up on herself, eventually—telling herself that she was stronger than this, and that she would make it work. They would make it work. Sakura remembered going to the Uchiha mansion one night, intent on making things right. If there was one thing Sakura was, it was determined—and very, very stubborn. She would make this a happy ending, and then go on and finally do her part in making sure Hinata was fine—because that girl needed comfort, and Sakura couldn't just dwell on her own selfishness any longer when it all came down to it.

She found them in bed, together.

The man she loved. And the woman who was supposed to be in love with one of her best friends. Both drunk, and asleep beyond oblivion.

It had broken her heart beyond recognition, to witness something she had never expected.

She remembered him opening his eyes, at the sound of her footsteps faltering. Nearly stumbling. Even drunk, the Uchiha was a very, very keen man. She remembered both their gazes silently locking on each other—one unemotional, while the other full of disbelief and despair and confusion. He had broken the gaze, and had quietly gotten up, from the bed (where _they_ used to make love in, time and time again), and into the kitchen downstairs. She had followed him.

She had slapped him.

Once. Twice. Countless, countless times.

In the end, she had cried—silent tears that she didn't want spilling, but still spilled anyway.

He had retaliated by saying one thing: that she, Haruno Sakura wasn't the woman for him. That she would never be. That it was all a stupid, useless mistake, wasting his time with her for that long. Even in drunkenness, she knew it was the hard truth.

He had calmly, quietly gone back upstairs after that.

She remembered letting him.

The following week, they had found out about Hinata's pregnancy.

He didn't officially break up with Sakura (because really, there was simply no need), but it was already clear it was over—and it didn't exactly take a genius to put the pieces together and figure out just who the father was. Especially after the announcement of the wedding. The Hyuuga clan, it seemed, accepted Sasuke with open arms. It was politics.

After all, they had never approved of Naruto.

And it wasn't like Sasuke had regret in his eyes whenever they saw each other.

No. He had still been calm. Emotionless.

Cold.

_But Naruto's the father, isn't he? Everybody was wrong. They were all wrong._

She had no idea if Hinata had known about this—she doubted the girl did. Truth be told, no one ever asked. Everybody just assumed.

Now, everyone's lives were messing up.

"_There's still us, Sakura."_

And now, _he_ had come back. Kakashi had come back, when she had needed him not now, but months ago. He never even said goodbye—never even let her or anyone else know that he going on a suicide mission to right his wrongs, and to run away from what she was sure the grief that being in Konoha was giving him. She understood, she really did—but she knew, however much she feared it, that sooner or later, he really was just trying to kill himself. To end his life.

Stupid, stupid man.

Sakura was cut off her reverie, and her memories—and dear Kami, her painful, painful thoughts—when she heard quiet footsteps saunter behind her. Pause. She opened her eyes, fixed them straight ahead. The chakra signature was unmistakable.

Unwanted.

She remained silent, and so did he. But after a moment, he finally spoke.

"I'm still marrying her," he said.

Politics.

Or maybe it was becoming love. It happens.

Sakura closed her eyes back, ignoring the twist in her heart, the awful, awful churning in her gut. She locked them away, determined not to unveil them anymore.

_It was over._

"I know," she murmured, calmly. Softly.

A pause.

"But I'm going on the mission."

Unable to help it, or herself, she trembled a bit, and fisted her hands near her face. She steadied herself, and told herself it was needed. She had to be strong, for the people around her. For those who counted.

For Naruto.

"Why?" she asked, simply.

Silence.

Then he uttered the words that she somehow knew was the truth.

Finally.

"...for Naruto."

He walked away soon afterwards, leaving her back in her thoughts, as her miso ramen was served. She looked at it for a while, before grabbing her chopsticks, and tearing them apart. In two. Inhaling the scent, the ever-so-familiar scent, even after this long. Along with the scent, came images. Of a blond-haired, blue-eyed, ramen-loving boy—_no, man now_—who knew nothing but love, and how to give it unconditionally. Who dreamed of becoming the future leader of the village he treasured the most. Who vowed to protect his precious people, no matter what—because he would rather die than have them die in his hands.

She smiled.

And slowly, she ate, and let those once-happy images and memories stay.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**a/n:** Here goes chapter two. Just to be clear, this is a KakaSakuSasu. Not just a KakaSaku, or a SasuSaku. It's not a threesome, though._

_Yes, things are already clearer than last chapter. Sasuke and Sakura used to be lovers. Naruto and Hinata used to be engaged (and they either made the baby before or during the mission). As for Kakashi and Sakura, well, they used to be friends. And yes - Genma died on a mission, because of Kakashi. More on that later. Lastly, no...Temari and Naruto didn't vanish at the same time. Temari vanished three years ago, while Naruto only vanished seven months ago._

_Why did Sasuke sleep w/Hinata, of all people? Hmm. Again, more on that later._

_Guys, I apologize if this fic sounds rushed or something, but this is really supposed to be fast-paced. Hehe. So, some things will be happening quickly. Next chapter, the mission starts. I'd like to thank you all for the warm reviews...you're the best!_

_Happy reading. Review if you can. :)_


	3. Mission

**Chapter Three  
Mission**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Three days later, the Hokage deemed it right and healthy enough (the healthy enough being in Kakashi's case) for them to proceed to their mission. She had called them for another debriefing, to make sure they would be certain of what to do, and how to proceed.

After all, the first meeting had been nothing but utter chaos.

-

"_You will travel by feet, and you will travel in two groups. Nara Shikamaru, I want you to lead the first group. Hyuuga Neji, I want you to lead the second. This is a precautionary measure, just in case you are followed. The travel will take two days, if done quickly. Your groups will meet at the designated place your head—in this case, that would be you, Shikamaru—assigns you to. There, you will also meet with Sunagakure's own retrieval group. Is that understood?"_

"_Hai."_

"_Good."_

_There was a pause, as the Hokage's mouth thinned for a moment, before going back to their usual calm demeanor. She became business-like once more._

"_I want you all to remember that this mission is to save Uzumaki Naruto, first and foremost—and to try to know the workings of Haburi and how to disband it, if it comes down to that point. Temari of the Sand will be second priority. I don't want personal feelings involved, as you are Leaf shinobi first, and emotions may ruin your cover. Again, is that understood?"_

_She made sure to prolong her gaze on the head tactician, and her apprentice, at this._

"_Hai."_

"_Good."_

_Tossing a few scrolls at Shikamaru, then at Neji, she nodded._

"_Information. Pass around. Memorize. Then destroy it."_

_The two nodded as one, in silence. Everyone inside the room were silent, for that matter—even Ton-ton._

_Tsunade's expression became very, very determined._

"_Good. Now get the hell out of my office and do your jobs. Don't come back until there are results. You're dismissed. Good luck."_

"_Hai."_

_And they quickly shuffled out, one by one. Nobody voiced out that luck was the last thing that could help them._

_But almost everybody thought it._

_-_

That dawn, as the sky remained dark and the sun remained stubbornly hidden beyond the horizon, three people waited at the bridge. The fourth arrived thirty minutes later (a given, considering who he was).

And off the first group went.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

They were well on their way on the first day of travel, and they did it with an efficiency that was expected of any Leaf shinobi—or any professional shinobi, for that matter. They used chakra to hop from branch to branch, to ease up their travel—and once they were already outside the borders of Fire country, switched to using a lighter amount of chakra, as another precaution to avoid being detected. By the time night had arrived, they were already half-way to their supposed destination—and it was only logical that they stop and rest, and catch a few winks, before continuing on their way.

After all, they had been at it for more than sixteen hours now, with only water and some food pills to sustain them from time to time.

It was Kiba and Akamaru who found the perfect location to set up camp—a little circular area shaded by bushes and trees, with a river not far off. Quickly, they did their task: Shikamaru putting up tents, Kiba and his canine checking the surrounding perimeter twice, Kakashi setting up a strong genjutsu to render their corner invisible to the outside eye. Sakura made the fire, and cooked a decent meal (consisting of fish and rice from the rice grains she had packed) for everyone.

She remained quiet throughout the whole ordeal.

To be honest, only Kiba really offered some sort of conversation (the man loved to talk, after all)—and it wasn't like Kakashi was really listening through every word.

He had more important things in mind.

-

_The moment the others started leaving the room, the Hokage's voice rang once more—but only to address two people._

"_Hatake, Sakura, stay for a while."_

_They stayed, and waited. The moment the door closed to the last exiting shinobi, she spoke at once—she never did like wasting precious time._

"_How are you feeling?" she asked the silver-haired shinobi, bluntly._

_A pause._

"_Fine," he replied, just as bluntly._

"_No more pain?"_

_"None whatsoever."_

_"Good. I wouldn't want the master to have a weakness in this mission. At all."_

"_Rest assured, Hokage-sama."_

_Tsunade merely scoffed. "Rest assured, my ass."_

_Kakashi's eye merely crinkled. Tsunade sighed, then turned to the other._

"_Sakura."_

"_Yes, shishou?"_

"_From this point on, you will be his slave."_

"_Hai."  
_

"_You will follow his orders."_

_"Hai."_

_"You will be at his constant beck and call."_

_"Hai."_

_"And you will never, ever contradict him. Ever, Sakura. Understood?"_

_Because he was standing right beside her, he felt her stiffen at the last words, her shoulders going slightly rigid with tension. After a moment, the tension disappeared—and she reluctantly nodded._

"_Of course, shishou."_

_Her tone was a bit clipped, which wasn't surprising._

_Tsunade nodded back._

"_Very good. Go practice now, if you may. And do your roles well."_

_"Hai," Sakura replied._

"_Dismissed."  
_

_Sakura turned around, never once sparing him a glance._

_Well...the Hokage did say to practice, right?_

"_Sakura, could you go to the nearest bookstore and buy me the latest Icha-Icha installment?"_

_Tsunade raised a brow._

_Sakura froze, hand on doorknob. Then she turned around, and eyed him in disbelief._

_His eye crinkled once more._

"_That's an order, by the way."_

_A pause._

_Then she shot him a very dirty look. She scowled. Without further ado, she strode off, slamming the door shut—it was safe to say that the reverberant echoes of stomping feet were enough to indicate exactly what she thought of his order._

_From inside the room, there was a loud sigh._

"_Kakashi?"  
_

"_Yes, Hokage-sama?"_

_The blond woman glared._

"_If you harm or purposely hurt a single hair in her head, I will kill you personally. Do you get me?"_

_He nodded. _"_Of course. It won't happen."_

_"Good. Keep her safe."_

"_Always."_

_And he said it with such conviction, she had no choice but to believe him._

-

After that splendid conversation (it was splendid, in a way, considering none of the women in that little meeting had so much as punched him), Kakashi had decided to give her some room—to get her used to the idea first, before venturing to the so-called practice. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since that so-called scenario, and well...let's just say that within those near twenty-four hours, he found out that no, not really everything had changed.

She was still pretty moody.

It was no hardship figuring out she was still intent on ignoring him, though trying not to make it obvious_._

He was getting weary of it, actually.

The moment dinner was finally done and Sakura had quietly fled towards the river to wash her hands, Kakashi stood up, and quietly followed. Kiba and Akamaru were assigned on first watch, and Shikamaru had already settled in his tent, most probably to crack his brains into coming up with the best strategy to approach this mission. If they were doing their jobs, Kakashi thought it best that he and Sakura did theirs as well.

He found her on her knees, her eyes closed and her hands silently dipped into the edge of the gently-flowing current. Without further ado, he went to plop himself down on an old fallen log, where moss and dried grass resided, right beside her.

"Sakura."

Her eyes flew open—it was obvious she hadn't noticed him approaching (nobody really did, unless he wanted them to), and was irritated with herself for it.

"You should really get some sleep," she said bluntly_, _her eyes determinedly trained on the water below her. "Your injuries may reopen if you overexert yourself."

Once again, it was painfully obvious he was ticking her off—though for the life of him, he couldn't really figure out why (or maybe he could, but just didn't want to acknowledge it).

This has got to stop.

"I'll be fine," he replied.

"You're not."

"No more injuries, see?"

"You're _not._ Go to sleep." Same blunt tone. She really was the Hokage's apprentice in that department.

He sighed. "Sakura."

"If you rest, you'll be all the better soon."

"Sakura," he repeated—more firmly this time.

A pause.

"What?" she finally replied, her voice quiet.

Another pause. Then...

"Did you get the book I told you to buy?"

His eye crinkled. As expected, she froze.

Then she threw him a rather nasty glare, and stood up, preparing to stomp off. She made it three steps.

"Slave, get back here," he half-said, half-ordered. Mildly.

She turned back around and gave him a scowl.

"I am not your freaking dog," she snarled.

No, she wasn't. But it was time to get serious.

"I never said you were. But you are jeopardizing the mission with your childishness."

"I am _not_ being childish."

He merely gave her a cool stare. "Could have fooled me," he murmured.

Silence.

Then, to his relief, he heard her stomp back, and stand beside him. He could practically feel the waves of annoyance and reluctance coming from her—he didn't even have to look to know she had her arms folded in front of her (either that, or placed on her hips), and was still scowling at him.

"No," she said shortly.

He looked up in slight confusion. "No, what?"

She gritted her teeth. "No, I did _not_ get those stupid books you wanted. You pervert."

He sighed. Then slowly, he stood up, and looked at her square in the eye.

"Sakura...haven't you read the scrolls?"

Silence.

"You do realize that you have to follow _every_ order I give? Because according to the scroll—which I hope you've read, considering how important this all is—the bind the slave has with its master is powerful enough to harm the slave if he wishes not to follow the master's orders."

A pause.

"...you didn't read the scroll, did you?"

Her eyes snapped up, and fired up at him.

His visible eye crinkled.

"Ah, that's another thing. You're not allowed to look me in the eye."

She snarled again.

"And you cannot show disrespect," he added.

She glared.

"...what did I say about the eye thing?" he reminded, lightly.

She looked like she was about to scream.

Instead, she huffed, and fisted her hands, and, without further ado, stomped away from him completely, muttering nonstop under her breath.

"Stupid, stupid sensei," he caught her saying.

"It's _master_, Sakura. That's my name now."

She merely stomped harder (causing some of the pebbles in the ground to fly in different directions) and faster, muttering some more.

"Annoying man," he heard her mumble.

He nearly smiled at that. Nearly.

At least she hadn't lost all fire yet.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He was right.

Sakura didn't want to admit it, nor did she want to acknowledge it—but having read the scroll now (something which she should have done _hours _ago, had she not been distracted too much for her own good), and brooded and pondered over it...it couldn't be denied that he, great Copy nin Hatake Kakashi, had a _point_.

And a very good one at that.

It looked like the leaders of the organization Haburi treated slaves as they were supposed to be treated, just like all those centuries back—like mindless, spineless servants who groveled at their masters' feet, and did everything their masters ordered, be it physical, mental, emotional.

Sexual.

No fighting back. No looking in the eye. No first-name calling. Always walking behind. Always obeying. Pleasuring.

Always giving in.

It disgusted her, to say the least. As a woman of the modern times, Sakura had always believed in equality—not just between men and women, but between people of every race, or status, or beliefs in life. It just didn't dwell well on her that slavery was still being used today, and for money—an aspect that Akatsuki had, somewhat, been lacking.

And for that, she could grudgingly respect the now-gone organization.

At least they treated each other as equals.

Still, whatever her views on the subject matter, this _was_ a mission, her mission—and, considering this mission was to save the life of her best friend (and to keep Konoha and other villages safe), she couldn't very well jeopardize it by being stubborn and sticking to her pride, which was what she had been doing earlier. Kakashi was right—from this moment on, pride and stubbornness had to be thrown out of the window. For now.

Though she knew it wasn't going to be easy. Sakura sighed.

_Well,_ _first things first._

"Kiba, go to sleep. You too, Akamaru. I'll take second watch."

The dog-boy grinned at her, yawning as he stood up and stretched his arms out in the air. Akamaru didn't make a sound (he never did, when it came to surveillance), but nuzzled her ankles lightly, as a sign of affection, before trotting off. Kiba patted her shoulder.

"Thanks, Sakura. Be careful now."

She scoffed lightly and rolled her eyes, giving him an answering smile. "Right. You're delirious. I can take care of myself."

"Goodnight."

"Night."

The moment Kiba entered the tent (the one she and he shared, considering there were only two tents) along with Akamaru, Sakura took the time to sweep the perimeter once more, to make sure everything was still in place, and no disturbances had occurred. There were no sounds of life, except for the faint rustling of the wind, and the rhythmic chirping of the night crickets. Satisfied that they were safe and fine, she finally went to the last area inside their perimeter, where a certain silver-haired shinobi was perched on a tree branch, hidden from plain view. Quietly, she looked up, and observed the shadowy form, as he kept his gaze on the orange book he was holding in his hand. She knew he knew she was there—it would be unassuming of her to think he wouldn't.

Quietly, she jumped up, and slid to sit beside him.

Silence.

She didn't speak for a long time—because to be honest, she didn't _know_ how to deal with him anymore. If she had to admit it (and just to herself), the annoyance earlier, as well as her reaction, were really just automatic responses—a defense that she put around, because when she thought about it, she didn't know the man beside her anymore. And added to the fact that he really was being annoying, and being mysterious, and she just had too many emotions already to even begin to understand how to trust him again, and how to make things the way they were again...it was all just too much.

_Because you can't make things the way there were again._

_So don't even try._

How do you deal with a man that had, in more than a year, become nothing more than a mere stranger?

Who had left you when you needed him the most, considering he was your only source of strength left at that time?

It was difficult, to even look at him. To look at what he had done to himself, and what he was trying to do now—even through the eye crinkles and the nonchalance, she knew him. She _knew._

He was determined to make this a suicide mission, because he couldn't bear the loss of one more comrade.

How was she supposed to feel about that, except get annoyed and freeze him out? She couldn't take caring anymore.

His mind was made up.

_But I am going to protect him. He's not going to die while I'm his slave._

Turning the confusing, head-messing thoughts in her mind, Sakura sighed, softly. Then she reached inside one of her medic-pockets, until her hand touched a smooth, glossy material that had been in there ever since she'd packed her stuff a day earlier in Konoha.

Quietly, she tossed the new orange-colored installment to him.

Quietly, he caught it in reflex—though she knew there was some sort of surprise written in his visible eye.

A pause.

Then she finally spoke.

"There you go, master. Now go to sleep."

Silence. Then...

"It's Master Kash."

Yes. That was in the scroll, too.

"Fine. Go to sleep, _Master Kash._"

She didn't look at him, but she swore she could almost visualize his eye crinkling again. Before she could turn her head to confirm, and really see, he was gone, in a flash that no ordinary eye would have been able to dream of detecting.

And she was left alone, to ponder once more, and focus her mind on one thing only: the mission, and its requirements.

Other thoughts just had to vanish in the process_—_because other thoughts were weak, and useless.

And at this point, there was just no room for that.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"_Hinata."_

"_S—Sakura-san."_

_She was pale and still looking unhealthy, like a delicate glass that would break if handled without the slightest care. Normally, Sakura being Sakura, she would have left it all alone, and left the question to moot—because that was the proper thing to do, as both medic-nin and a fellow human being._

_But Sakura had to know. She _had_ to, however it was going to hurt._

_She was tired of leaving things alone._

"_Did you know? That it was Naruto's?"_

_Silence._

_They didn't look at each other, but at the distance, where the sky was perfect, and the village was perfect. __Where everything seemed perfect, though that was far from the truth._

_Then the answer came—one that wasn't really what she wanted to hear._

"_Y-yes. I—I k-knew."_

_The Hyuuga girl's voice was soft, and timid. But Sakura had near-perfect hearing._

_So she heard it, crystal-clear._

_"Why?" Sakura asked, simply._

_Silence._

_"Why marry someone else, Hinata?"_

_Silence still._

_The next answer, in a way, broke Sakura's heart._

_Though not in the way she thought it would._

_"B-because h-he reminds m-me of N-naruto-kun. H-he's my s-strength n-now."_

_Almost immediately, the confessor started crying again (in her quiet way), and mumbling about reasons and apologies, and words that it was all just for the baby. She knew, she had known all along._

_But it was all for the baby._

_As she continued murmuring, and calling for Naruto, and apologizing, and begging to have Naruto returned to her life, Sakura quietly left, tired of it all—and, for once on her life, not guilty of leaving, and not comforting._

_Because she knew if she had been in the same position, she would never have agreed to marry Sasuke. Even if it was for the baby, for the clan. For the future—even if it meant being selfish, and hurting friends in the process._

_Something that Hinata, depressed as she was, had still done._

_...would still be doing._

_So, Sakura quietly left, and didn't ask anymore questions._

_Most of all, she didn't look back._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The next day, the first group resumed their travel—and Shikamaru finally had most of his plans for them smoothed out. Since they were planning to meet both the second group and Sunagakure's retrieval group at around early noontime near the outside border of Snow country, the Konoha strategist had decided to keep his mouth shut at the moment, because it would be troublesome to state said plans twice. It was better if everyone was already gathered, and state it just once.

For Kakashi's and Sakura's part, they had mostly remained quiet—interacting every once in a while in resumed politeness, with him ordering her every now and then, and her having no choice but to follow (not that he had ever ordered her to do anything really bizarre, because if he did, there was no doubt that she'd pummel him).

As policy (and for practice), she'd never once looked him in the eye.

But she didn't resort to traveling behind him the whole time, either.

At least, not yet.

For his part, Kiba merely remained observant, and as alert as his canine companion.

When they arrived at the pre-destination, the Sunagakure group was already there, waiting for them (hidden well, of course)—mostly consisting of Kankuro, and two more shinobi that had the unmistakable tan of the so-called desert people.

It surprised them a bit to find the Kazekage himself there as well.

But then again, maybe not so much.

"Kazekage-sama."

"Nara-san."

It was almost painful to see the two men interact—with empty, placid tones, which, in a way, they both were. It was as if there was too much going on, that neither man wanted to acknowledge, for their own sakes.

Which, in a way, was also true.

Fortunately, Kankuro decided to step in, a somewhat easy (and surprisingly warm) grin on his face.

"Shikamaru. It's been a while."

Shikamaru nodded at the greeting, a small smirk appearing on his face. Kankuro then switched his grin to the others—one which Kiba and Akamaru returned with one of their own (they had always been too friendly for their own good, not that it was a bad thing, since they were still great shinobi).

For Gaara's part, he merely nodded at the others in grim acknowledgment. But the grimness vanished slightly as he caught sight of her, and his jade eyes focused a bit. Maybe even softened.

"Sakura."

She smiled. "Hello, Gaara."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in curiosity at this, though he didn't comment.

He kept on reading his new Icha-Icha.

Around half an hour later, the second group of Konoha still had not arrived—a fact that Shikamaru found troublesome, because of the waste of time.

Thirty more minutes later, there was still no sign of them.

Kiba fussed. Shikamaru sighed.

"They know the drill. If they're not here until the next half hour, we're leaving. We'll be meeting them inside the border now."

Ten more minutes.

Another ten.

Five more minutes later...the group had finally arrived.

And they looked a bit worse for wear.

"What took you so long??" Kiba growled, the impatience very clear in his tone.

"We had a run-in with some rogue nin—though it's been taken care of," Neji replied, in his usual cool voice.

"Are you sure no one is following?" Gaara asked formally.

"By the power of youth, we have shown them that springtime and determination will always reign!"

Kankuro, looking confused as hell, turned to the others for translation.

"Positive," the Hyuuga confirmed with a nod.

"Oh."

"Is it related to our mission? The nin you fought?" Shikamaru asked.

Neji slowly shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

Kankuro nodded. "Well, that's a relief."

Sakura thought something was off—mostly because Ino was avoiding everybody's eyes (even Shikamaru's—though he seemed too preoccupied to notice it), and the Uchiha was...glaring at the blond. It was a one-time thing (the glare), before vanishing behind the ever-present mask altogether, and returning to his emotionless state. Their eyes met, for a moment—green on onyx.

Silence.

Then he flicked his gaze off, much like one would swat a fly casually. As if he couldn't be bothered.

Sakura kept her own gaze (and stomach) from reacting, and flickering. Answering.

Now wasn't the time.

Swiftly, without further ado, the group (a united group now) took off, into the branches, careful to keep their tracks as well as chakra hidden. It wouldn't do good to be caught, especially now that they were so close—or at least, as the other scroll Tsunade provided had calculated. In just a few hours, they were going to meet Haburi, and start with the mission.

In just a few hours, they would be one step closer to their destination. To Naruto (and yes, even Temari).

They couldn't wait.

She couldn't wait.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Three hours later, they finally arrived—to the designated location, the so-called headquarters of Haburi. The prison of their comrades, right in the midst of Snow country. Where _x_ marked the exact spot, right in their line of vision.

Sakura stared, her heart lurching a bit. Not at the sight of tents, or people, or her first vision of the organization.

Because in truth, there were no tents, no people and no first vision. Nothing.

"What the hell is going on here?" Kiba growled.

There was nothing but barren fields and snow.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**a/n**: Hiya, guys. Once again, I apologize for taking long with this chapter. It's mostly because I was so stacked with school requirements and reports, that I just had to abandon this for a while until I get them all done (I couldn't leave them, because my grades depend on them). I wrote about 1/4 of this in my computer, and the remaining 3/4 in my cellphone, whenever I had free time in school (heh, my classmates thought I was a text addict or something!). As promised, it's being posted no later than Sept. 14. Yey._

_Anyway, there might be questions. The Sakura-Hinata conversation? Happened right before the mission, after the whole pregnancy and miscarriage thing (remember, there was a lapse of 3 days before the mission started). Guys, don't blame Sakura for turning her back. After all, she's just human...and betrayal is the worst thing (in other words, she's not perfect, and couldn't really forgive easily anymore)._

_There are some hints pertaining relationships of characters here, as well as hints for future revelations. Catch them so far? Ah, well. I hope my writing's not getting rusty._

_Happy reading. Thanks for the previous reviews, I really appreciate them (because as said before, this is my first time venturing in this genre). Review if you can again! :)_


	4. Jeopardy

**Chapter Four  
Jeopardy**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_When Ino had woken up in the morning four hours before the mission, she had never expected a lot of things to happen. Maybe surprises came in a day, in bundles and great showers—and she, being a spontaneous girl, often knew how to deal with such surprises. No sweat._

_But even she knew her own limits._

_She had never expected to march right into the Hyuuga compound, and give Hinata a piece of her mind—it just happened. She had been mad, mad for her best friend—and she knew Sakura deserved more than what she was going through. It pained Ino to see the girl hurting—to see Sakura going back to her insecure shell, when she had long ago broken out of it._

_She had never expected to give the pale-eyed, violet-haired woman a big, mighty slap—but she did, and it was satisfying (Ino was _not_ going to pretend it wasn't). It didn't last, however, because the next moment, Neji was there, and giving her such a cold look that she had no choice but to back off. Still feeling miffed and righteous, she had gone back to bed, and to sleep—to fend off angry thoughts, and other, deeper emotions._

_Ones she didn't want to think of, or to feel, at all._

_When she woke up, they came, anyway._

_She had never expected to cry, and curl into a ball._

_To cry her heart out, as she was alone in bed, with no one to hold her, and be there for her. __Because Shikamaru was gone—h__e had stopped coming, the moment he found out his wife was still alive._

_She supposed it was a given. After all...what was a girlfriend compared to a spouse?_

_Eventually, the tears had stopped—and Ino had gone quickly into motion, packing her things, making sure everything was there, before heading to the bridge, where the second group was to assemble, before proceeding to travel._

_As usual, the Uchiha was there first—looking as placid as always, and as cold._

_And thus, the unexpected things began once more._

_She had never expected to act so unprofessionally—to scream and yell at him with all the sarcastic and hurtful comments she could throw his way. In her mind, he was the culprit, the one to blame for everything. The screaming stopped, after a while—but the sarcastic comments went on, even when travel had ventured on. In a way, she had felt it was her duty to rile him up—to extract some emotion from him, some trace of guilt for all that he had done._

_Yet there was nothing._

_And all she had managed to do was reveal their position to enemies._

_The fight had been simple enough, though it definitely delayed them—and she had almost been killed, too, because she had been concentrating too hard on her anger to really focus on her surroundings._

_Until he saved her, just in time._

_The almighty Uchiha himself._

_She had never expected him to do so—n__or did she expect the cold, cold look that followed afterwards (even colder than his usual), seeming to burn and condemn._

_...nor her own shame._

_For she was being selfish, and that just didn't do. Wouldn't do._

_There was Naruto to think of...and Temari._

_In the end, Ino didn't expect the fight and sarcasm to go out of her—leaving only silence, and an unnatural restlessness within. She was suddenly tired, suddenly fatigued—and suddenly wishing that her life would become peaceful and happy once more._

_Though, it seemed, that was a long time coming._

_Because out of everything that was unexpected, there was one thing that Ino didn't expect most of all—not this time, and not with Neji's words and cold Byakugan eyes piercing like a dark cloud on her already heavy heart._

"_Yamanaka...why didn't you tell us you are with child?"_

_To be pregnant._

_...and to not have a single clue what to do._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

For a moment, nobody spoke, as the view before them unfolded, revealing nothing but fields, nothing but snow and rocks.

It was empty. It was all empty.

For a moment, everybody just stared, with different reactions on their faces. Sakura was looking pale, and very disappointed. Kiba was looking downright shocked, and quite angry. Lee was looking puzzled. The others, considering who they were, merely looked placid—their faces unreadable (nothing new there), and somewhat unconcerned.

Ino merely worried, her face not bothering to hide it.

Silence.

Then Kankuro moved and, without further ado, tossed something in the air—right in Shikamaru's direction.

He caught it, and raised an eyebrow. It was shiny, and obviously metallic.

Kankuro sighed. "Come on. Let's set up strategy. Gaara and I will explain everything."

And Gaara trudged off, still not speaking, further away from their hidden position viewing the fields. Kankuro went next.

Silently (and curiously), the others followed.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Once everyone was settled, in a small clearing with bushes and trees and shadows surrounding them, the puppet master finally started the briefing.

"Okay, listen up, guys. The reason there is nothing on the fields is because there is an invisible shield—one that protects the headquarters, as well as keeps it away from prying eyes...which, in this case, is shinobi like us. There are only two ways to enter that shield, and the first one is during tournament time—unfortunately, none of us so far know when the next one will be, since it is done randomly. Do any of you know?"

One by one, the Leaf shinobi shook their heads.

"What's the second way?" Shikamaru asked.

Kankuro pointed at Shikamaru's hand. "Through that."

Shikamaru, along with almost everyone else, looked down, at the glinting piece of metal.

"Okay, who's the master and slave spy assigned on your team?" Kankuro asked.

Slowly, Sakura raised a finger. "Slave," she said, then jerked her head to Kakashi. "Master."

Gaara looked at them both intently. Then he nodded. "Nara-san, they can have that."

Raising an eyebrow, the genius merely tossed the items towards Kakashi, who caught it with an eye crinkle, and proceeded to study it. Most of the others (particularly Kiba, Lee and Sakura), looked curiously as well.

Finally, Kakashi looked up.

"It's a collar," he said bluntly.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"A neck collar?" she blurted out. Kakashi nodded.

"And a wrist collar," he added.

Slowly, Sakura turned her head towards Kankuro.

"You're asking _me_ to wear a dog collar?" she asked in slight disbelief.

At this, Lee immediately interrupted.

"Ah, Sakura-chan, whatever you wear, you will still be like the blossom of_—_"

"Youth and springtime and all that," Kiba finished, rolling his eyes. "We get it, Lee."

Kankuro stared at them, looking a bit amused. Then he shrugged. "It's not a dog collar."

"Only dogs wear collars," Sakura pointed out.

"On the contrary_—_" Kiba began.

"Save it, Inuzuka," Sasuke interjected, coldly.

Kiba glared. Akamaru growled. "Shut up, Uchiha! You ba_—_"

"Okay, okay! Shut up, children!" Ino snapped, glaring at the two_—_they both glared back, but she ignored them, and turned back to Kankuro. "You were saying?"

Kankuro looked at them all uncertainly, before proceeding to turn his attention back to the now-quiet Sakura. "Well, you're going to be the slave, right?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"It's the Haburi policy, Sakura. You have to follow it to get in."

A pause.

Then Sakura finally nodded. "Okay, sure," she said, her tone resigned.

Kankuro sighed. "You're our only choice, Sakura. Our spies got that after months of surveillance—they had to kill people, and eventually get themselves killed in the end. And no...we don't think they even got inside the shield."

"Then how did you get those?" Shikamaru asked.

Kankuro shrugged. "Bird spy. How the bird got hold of it, we don't know. Heck, the retrieval team all got killed before they could inform us."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence, in which none of them knew exactly what else to say. After a moment, though, Gaara continued.

"We need to find a loophole. Obviously their shield is strong enough to hold on the outside, because everything has been tried—from explosives to chakra to pure strength. None works. What we need are inside people. Those two collars—" He nodded in Kakashi's direction. "—are the key. Once put, they will instantly bind you to the place. You two will become our spies—and eventually, you two will be the ones who will help us, the outside surveyors, find out what's really needed to infiltrate this place."

Neji nodded his head. "That makes sense. Now the only thing we need to do is find a way for them to get in_—_which you said wouldn't be easy."

Kankuro gave a nod in agreement. "_That_ is what we'll have to strategize. Since Gaara will be going back to Suna soon, we have to—"

"Wait a minute," Kiba interrupted, holding up a hand. He stared at Gaara in surprise. "You're going back to Suna?"

Gaara nodded his head. "Yes. I have duties."

Silence.

"...what about your sister?" Kiba suddenly blurted out.

_Dead_ silence.

Then Ino glared at Kiba, her back up and her blue eyes defiant. "He has responsibilities. People have no right to neglect their responsibilities, no matter what. Especially the Kazekage. Same goes with people who promise others they will love them forever—" Sakura shifted uncomfortably, while Sasuke stubbornly looked on coldly. "—or people who get others pre—" She stopped abruptly, and paled.

Then she hastily averted her eyes back to the ground, and mumbled for Kankuro to go on.

Shikamaru was now looking at her oddly.

"Anyway, now that that's over," Kankuro said, also eyeing Ino oddly, "we'll...strategize. Yeah. That's it."

Silence.

"Who are your group's leaders?" Gaara asked calmly.

Shikamaru nodded his head. "Me and Hyuuga-san."

"Alright, then. Come with me."

Without further ado, he stood up, and once more, led them away from the group.

Neji and Shikamaru looked at each other, and went to follow.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_Two minutes later._

_"Kakashi-san?"_

_"Hm?"_

_"Come with us. You will need to be a part of this talk, as master."_

_"Hey, what about me? I'm the slave, why can't I be a part of—"_

_A sigh. "Sakura, don't be troublesome. Let's go, Kakashi-san."_

_An eye crinkle. "Alright. Later, Sakura."_

_A grumble. "Whatever."_

_"You mean 'whatever, Master—"_

_"Oh, shut up!"_

_"...you shut up, slave."_

_"OH! YOU—"_

_"Would you guys shut up? You're both troublesome. Kakashi-san, let's go. Sakura, stay. And be alert."_

_And with that, the genius and the Copy nin left._

_And the pink-haired kunoichi glared._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura stared at the ground in front of her, her mind going steadily impatient and her body going steadily cold. It was nearing dusk, and the three leaders had been strategizing for what seemed like hours now (though it could have just been an hour, tops)—though that wasn't what irked her, if something was supposed to irk her.

No. What irked her was that they had called Kakashi to the meeting—yet they didn't call _her._

Erm...wasn't she supposed to know what was the strategy, since she was the slave and all?

"What is up with you?"

The familiar voice made Sakura sigh, and continue staring at the ground. After a moment, Ino joined her on the log she was sitting on, and glanced at her face in curiosity.

"You look like you want to pummel someone," Ino stated.

"Maybe I do," Sakura grumbled.

A pause.

"And I suppose that someone is the silver-haired dude who's going to be your master?"

Sakura's stare at the ground turned into a glare. "Whatever."

Again, there was a pause. For a moment, Sakura thought Ino was finally going to leave her alone, to her brooding and her thoughts. But a hand was suddenly on her shoulder, gently.

"Why are you still mad at him?" Ino asked.

Silence.

"You know why," Sakura replied quietly.

Ino sighed. "Forehead, you know why he had to go away. You _know._"

The thought saddened Sakura—after all, she did know Genma, and had somewhat been his friend, not just an acquaintance.

But it was nothing like his friendship with Kakashi.

Still, she stubbornly held on to her defiance, and stubbornly held on to staring at the ground.

"It still wasn't right," she insisted.

Ino sighed again—this time in exasperation. "Fine—so he got stupid. Most men are. But Sakura...he came back. It's what counts."

_It's what counts._

If only it were that easy. But it wasn't.

"He's still annoying. Right now," Sakura said.

Ino grinned. "And I'm sure you are, too." She ignored the glare, and continued. "You're being immature, you know."

"He started it."

"See? _Immature._"

Sakura growled. "Oh, shut up."

Fine. So maybe she was having one of her moods. It couldn't be helped, really.

Not wanting to discuss the topic anymore (particularly since it did nothing but make her temper rise all the more), Sakura decided to change the topic.

"Anyway, Pig...what is up with _you_? What was that whole babbling thing going on up there?"

Silence.

Sakura looked up, and saw that it was now Ino who was staring at the ground.

"Nothing," Ino replied nonchalantly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Pig..."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ino repeated stubbornly.

"Pi—"

"Sakura."

At the sudden third voice, Sakura looked up. She didn't notice that Gaara had approached, and was now standing in front of her. Surprised, Ino looked up as well, and stared at Gaara. Then, at Sakura. She began inconspicuously looking around, and it didn't take a genius to guess who she was looking for.

"Gaara," Sakura replied, finally standing up and turning her attention back to the red-haired sand nin. "...so the meeting's over?"

"Hm."

He remained silent, and just kept on looking at her. It was the way he looked at her when he...no, this was not the best time to recall that.

Past is past.

"Where's Kakashi?" she asked, following Ino's actions and looking around as well.

"He went somewhere."

Her gaze snapped back to his, and she stared at him incredulously. "He went somewhere?"

"Hm."

"..._where_?"

"I don't know."

She kept on staring.

"You don't know," she repeated.

Silence.

Gaara sighed inaudibly, and changed his words. "I can't say yet. We need to talk—"

But his sentence was cut off abruptly, when a loud growl came from his side. It was Akamaru.

In an instant, Kiba stood up, and hissed. "Company."

Sakura's eyes widened. Gaara began to move.

"Wha—"

_BOOM!_

But it was too late, as explosions flew. As smoke and fire filled the air, and shouts as well.

As chaos began to ensue.

The explosion had Kiba flying straightaway, and Sakura shouting and trying to reach him. But before she could, she was pulled to the ground, so harshly, and covered with something hard, making her skin bite both pebbles and soil.

_BOOM!_

It didn't take her long to realize that there were explosive traps everywhere.

What was happening?

Before she could really think, the smoke and the successive explosions stopped. Then, abruptly, Gaara was off her, and the sand was off Ino, and he was running off towards the source of another explosion—farther away to the left of the clearing they were in.

"Gaara!" Sakura called out, about to follow him. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Neji, Sasuke and a sand nin fighting enemy nin who had appeared out of nowhere—it was two to one, in favor of said enemies. They were dressed in black clothes, and headbands that had a symbol that she couldn't yet distinguish, at the moment.

It could only mean one thing.

Haburi.

They found them.

She was about to join the fight, when she saw Ino still on the ground, unconscious.

Her heart skipped a beat.

In an instant, Sakura was on her, shaking her gently.

"Ino, get up."

No sound.

"Pig, wake up!" she hissed, trying not to panic. "Don't you dare!" Instinctively, her hands went around to check, her green chakra coming out, scanning the blond's neck, chest, stomach...

Sakura's hands froze, and her mouth opened in disbelief. Ino was alright, but...Sakura shook her slightly once more.

After a moment, blue eyes opened.

Sakura stared in both relief, and shock.

"You're _pregnant_?"

Still dizzy, Ino tried to sit up. "Ouch," she groaned.

"Ino, we need to take cover." Slowly, she helped the blond lean on her.

"Is the baby okay?" Ino asked in panic.

"Ino—"

"Is the baby okay?" Ino repeated, somewhat desperately.

Sakura sighed. "Yes, the baby's okay." She could practically hear the sigh of relief, and would have smiled, if the situation was different.

"Don't tell anyone," Ino said.

"But—"

"Haruno, get down!"

_BOOM!_

There was another explosion—this time, both Sakura and Ino managed to dive away, thanks to Neji's warning. Ino ventured to the left, and was immediately kicked in the stomach by another enemy nin. She winced, but managed to stand up, and pretty soon was fighting back, cursing angrily as she did so. Sakura ventured to the right, farther away from the explosion, and from where Neji and the others were.

It turned out she was not going to be as lucky.

In an instant, five men were surrounding her. She stood up, and immediately took out a kunai. Glared.

One of the men's eyes narrowed.

"I know who she is," he growled.

"Well, I don't know you," she scoffed. "But you sure as hell are going down."

The man smirked. "Haruno, I don't think so." She felt surprise, but didn't let it show. "Do not kill her. And that white-eyed Hyuuga."

Oh, hell.

They _knew _her.

She narrowed her eyes, but didn't comment. She didn't know how they knew her, or how they knew Neji, or heck—how they even knew that they were here, at such a short amount of time. She wasn't going to ask, because asking would only be a waste of time. Instead, Sakura threw her kunai at one of them, in a rather aggressive fashion.

Taken by surprise (because they had probably never thought she could move so fast), he instantly fell to the ground with a soft thud, the kunai lodged straight on the center of his forehead.

Then she went into action.

Kick, dodge, punch, swerve. Pummel. Four became three, and three became two. The two were persistent, and stronger than the ones she had already taken out. She was getting impatient. For a moment, she considered using chakra to punch the ground—then decided against it, because she didn't want to use up too much chakra, in case something else came up and—

_BOOM!_

She was instantly flying through the air, the impact sending a zing of pain through her stomach and her whole body. She cursed, before landing on the ground, facedown.

Inner Sakura was screaming like mad inside her mind.

_Darn it! Move!_

Cursing some more, she fisted her hands and looked up, prepared to stand up, and fight some more and—

_BOOM!_

Another explosion, one that nearly shattered her teeth off her mouth. The pain was excruciating, and made her nearly roll her eyes behind her head. But she _wasn't_ going to close her eyes. Instead, she kept them open, despite the blood on her face, and the pain.

There was a loud thud, of something falling. She turned her head, ready to face, and defend herself if necessary, and—

_Oh. My._

_...Kami._

She wasn't prepared for the sight in front of her.

A body. A lifeless body so still, so calm. Familiar eyes. His eyes looking blank, and unseeing.

Dead.

Her stomach dropped.

_No_.

Her heart plummeted.

_No..._

Her body went numb.

_NO!_

Desperately, unable to tear her eyes away, she made a move to go closer—but found that she couldn't, because her legs weren't following her. Sakura looked down, and saw that they were bleeding profusely, viciously. Her ankle was twisted, and her feet and thighs were much, much worse. There were gashes everywhere. Gritting her teeth, she felt panic fill her, as dizziness set in. Then, blurriness. She knew what was going to happen. She _knew._

She was going to faint, and lose consciousness, and...

He was dead.

...he was dead.

Grief filled her, on top of the panic. So strong, so wild. So deep.

He couldn't be dead. He _couldn't._

In a moment of weakness, she screamed out his name, in agony and pain.

"_KAKASHI!!_"

She would have screamed again, but she couldn't, because suddenly, a jolt of pain hit her on the ribs, then the head. Someone had hit her, and she began seeing white dots, seeing blurry shapes.

She began hearing a voice.

"Take her in. She belongs to me."

A cold, deadly voice.

Then something was on her neck, and the blast of pain came again—this time a thousand times more intense, as if coming from deep inside her. As if it was ripping her soul.

_Kakashi._

The last thing she remembered before everything went black was her promise to keep her ex-sensei alive, no matter what.

And how she had abruptly, horribly broken it.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_From somewhere inside the headquarters, a man looked at the file in his hands, his face thoughtful._

"_And you are saying we have killed Konoha's finest?"_

"_Yes. Mostly all of them—specifically the Hyuuga, and the man reputed to be the Copy ninja himself."_

_Silence._

_"And the others?"_

_"They retreated."_

_A pause._

"_Pity to hear about that." Though, there was no pity at all in his voice. Only malice. "But you say we have captured the Hokage's apprentice?"_

"_Yes, master."_

"_Who's in charge of her?"_

"_A man named Denkou Kashi. The long lost bounty hunter."_

_Silence._

_Then the man smiled—an evil, ruthless smile that showed off gleaming teeth, with silver incisors in between._

_It was the smile of the devil._

"_Good. Bring them in."_

_The slave bowed, and respectfully went away, leaving the man to himself, and his thoughts._

_This was interesting._

_This was interesting, indeed._

_His own master was going to be very, very pleased._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**a/n**: Yey, finally finished this. This is where the action starts, I guess. And more mysteries. Who is Denkou Kashi? And...what the heck happened to the mission? __Stay tuned for the next chapter._

_Happy reading, guys. :)_


	5. Captured and Bound

**Chapter Five  
Captured and Bound  
**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Waking up in a cold place was never, never nice.

When Sakura woke up and gained consciousness once again, the first thing she felt was the cold. She shivered a bit, as the chill picked up, wrapping her in a semi-frozen state that she found very uncomfortable, and very unwanted. It was like being numb. Her head was fuzzy, and for a moment, she kept her eyes closed, and let herself wonder where she was, what she doing, and why she was here.

And why it was so, so cold.

It took her a minute. Or maybe it was more than a minute.

But the moment realization hit her, about where she was, what she was doing, and why she was here—and why it was so, so cold—it was enough to make her understand that things had gone wrong, and she was suddenly, undeniably plunged into the center of the wrongness. She'd been captured. Beaten. Taken.

And Kakashi—

_No._

She froze at the last memory, her heart clenching in grief.

_No._

It _couldn't_ be.

Immediately, Sakura opened her eyes. Her eyesight was still fuzzy, and so was her brain, but after another moment, everything cleared, and she began to see again. What she saw first was the white ceiling—not the hospital ceiling, as she usually first assumed. No. This ceiling wasn't solid, and after some more staring, she realized that it wasn't made of wood, or concrete, or any other material that a normal ceiling should be made of.

It was a tent's ceiling.

Which could only mean...

Instantly, Sakura snapped up—and just as instantly, she was brought back down, by a force so hard it practically made her body tremble, and react. A sliver of pain passed through her neck, and she winced, reaching up to rub it.

The sound of metal instantly clanged in the air. She stopped, when she saw that said something was attached to both her wrists, and the something was connected to chains, which ran down to...

"You're awake. Good."

She stared at the only person inside the tent with her.

Her eyes narrowed.

Then, in the blink of an eye, she was off the bed, and lunging towards him, chains and dizziness and pain and all (because indeed, her injuries were still there, and her body was practically screaming from too much muscle exertion). She knew what she was doing was stupid, and that she was still too weak to really move, let alone fight—but she didn't care.

They killed Kakashi. They killed him.

They were going to _pay._

She growled, and attacked, straight for the person inside with her—she managed to tackle him, and get a grip on him, before preparing to gather chakra in her hands, and—

"You shouldn't have done that."

No chakra came.

Instead, what came was another set of pain—this time not just a sliver.

It was an explosion.

Suddenly, her whole body wracked, from the onslaught of terrible sensations. Her breath hitched. Her mind panicked, making her realize how stupid she really, really was, how weak—and at the moment, how helpless. Her heart sped up—but not before stopping for a moment, to understand one more time where she was, what she was doing, and why she was here.

It was freezing again.

_Kakashi._

Another bolt of unbelievable, mindless pain.

She screamed.

Then darkness consumed her once more.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Wake up—you're becoming useless."

When Sakura woke up for the second time in a row, she found herself in the same tent.

But she wasn't lying down anymore.

Instead, she was standing on her two bare feet, and tied up in more amounts of heavy chains, her hands behind her back on a pole—a thick, metal pole that held firm, and didn't look like it would budge at any moment.

Standing before her was a different person now.

"Oh, so little missy is finally awake."

The voice held a sneer. It belonged to a tall, thick-skinned man with short, cropped brown hair, light green eyes, dark brown complexion, and a physique that suggested he could lift a whole building without so much as a sweat—he was so muscled, they were practically bulging out of his skin. He wore black pants, his upper body bare, except for black cloth-like material tied at his wrists, like little bracelets.

Unperturbed, Sakura merely gave him a cold look, before changing it into a vicious glare.

"Release me."

He sneered for real this time, giving her a glimpse of yellowish teeth.

"And why should I?"

She kept on glaring. "Because I will kill you if you don't."

The man chuckled at this. Ignoring her comment, he merely crossed his arms, and gave her a look that was somewhere between amusement and...what was that?

Slowly, his eyes travelled upwards, from her bare feet, to her chest (it lingered there), to her eyes.

There was a sick, sadistic kind of appreciation in his gaze.

Glaring harder now, Sakura gave him a disgusted look.

"I said let me go, idiot," she commanded, her voice confident. She made a move to break off the chains behind her—but to her frustration, just like before, she couldn't seem to summon chakra to do so. The man seemed to see this, as he took a step closer, a smirk now playing on his lips. He shook his head.

He stepped even more close, his hands going for her waist, his body pressing lightly over hers. His hands slowly moved down, to her hips. This close up, she saw that his eyes weren't exactly pure green—they were more yellowish now.

She tried not to shiver.

He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling.

She froze.

"And what will I get in return for that?" he murmured, in a voice filled with suggestion.

His one hand moved up, to cup her still-clothed breast.

In an instant, she was spitting at him, and snarling, and bumping his head with hers—the impact had him backing off a bit and cursing, and clutching his head, before going to wipe the spit off his face.

What happened next happened in such fast motion.

She felt a terrible blow on her cheek, and drops of blood spilling on the floor, before her vision became blurry, at the impact of his hit—it felt like her jaw was going to crack. Before she could recover, he was suddenly on her, pressing her harshly against the pole, her back digging on it. His hand clutched her jaws harshly to whip her face to him, making her suck in a breath at the intense sting. She tried to snarl, but he wouldn't let her—instead, he grabbed her hips again and hauled them both closer, so that she could feel his muscles, his skin, could smell his breath, harsh and smelling of sake and very, very aroused.

Could feel his excitement, pulsing just beneath her thighs.

It sickened her, and she began struggling.

He merely grinned, his eyes lighting up at the movement, as he rubbed back against her—she panicked, and could not make herself stop. He licked her cheek, and the blood flowing from it.

"You're going to be one good fuck."

Her mind blanked.

And before she knew it, she felt another blow, this time on her stomach—the impact had pain coming again, and her vision darkening.

She felt hands ripping her clothes off, hands pawing her skin. One harshly touched her breast, another going for the insides of her thigh.

She felt harsh lips kissing her everywhere, before going to her lips, to roughly open them—she bit him, and felt his blood mixing with hers, and his anger intensifying.

_Bam._

Another blow on her stomach.

_Slap._

Another smack on her face.

The panic didn't subside. It became riddled with fear. With pain. With sickness.

_Blurry._

Inner Sakura had long gone, crying and unable to do anything about it.

From the corner of her mind, she heard something being zipped down, heard another rip.

No one was coming.

No one was coming.

In a burst of energy, she screamed again, and tried to kick, and move, and not submit.

Another blow.

Another jab.

A hand harshly pulling her legs apart, the chains now making her bleed.

What happened next happened in such fast motion.

She felt his sickening breath vanishing, the hands and skin disappearing. Colors whirled behind her eyes, and she was temporarily blind, temporarily unable to move. The chains rattled. She felt herself falling on the ground, felt her knees buckling. Her hands roughly went forward, breaking her fall. A wrist turned, dislocated. She coughed up something sticky, and began wheezing, as the dizziness overtook her again.

_No._

She was not going to succumb to the darkness again.

In a vicious effort, she opened her eyes, and tried to make her vision come back. Please come back.

They did.

And what she saw was enough to make her go weak with relief, and at the same time, horrify her in ways she couldn't even begin to imagine.

Her assaulter was now on the ground, his eyes blank, his mouth twisted in an open grimace of horror and fear.

His head had been cut off.

...and so had his limbs.

Blood was everywhere.

Unable to help herself, she vomited on the ground, and stayed there. She closed her eyes, and willed the vision away.

"Wake up. This is no place to be weak."

Why was the voice so familiar?

Shivering slightly, Sakura kept her eyes closed, not wanting to face anyone yet. She heard another voice, this time a female's.

"Oh, fuck. Why did you have to go and waste another guard, Kashi-san?"

Where did she hear that name before?

"He was taking hold of my possession. So he had to die."

She remembered the voice now.

It was last voice she heard before coming here.

The last voice, after seeing blank, lifeless eyes...

_No._

_Don't think!_

She was going to lose her sanity if she thought too much about it.

"I am nobody's possession," she wheezed, coughing.

Before she could speak further, she was suddenly nudged by a foot, and harshly pushed in one direction. Her eyes snapped open, and landed on a figure who was glaring at her, and sneering at the same time. She was a beautiful woman, with flowing black hair and icy blue eyes and skin as creamy as snow.

Her red lips were twisted in disgust, and spite.

"You bitch. You dare speak to your master that way?"

Sakura merely glared back, and forced herself to stand up on her knees. "I am nobody's—"

_Smack!_

She stumbled back to the ground.

"That'll teach you—"

"Enough. I do not tolerate getting my slave kicked. Just go."

"Don't forget you are new here, Kashi-san," the woman said playfully—though there was a cold edge to said playfulness. "We will still be observing you."

"I know."

"The master will be along. Make sure your _possession_ is clean when he comes. You will be meeting in the master's tent."

"Fine."

There was the sound of swishing, as the tent was opened, then closed. Silence remained, for a few moments.

"Haruno."

The same cold, clipped voice.

Sakura opened her eyes once more. This time, she finally saw, clearly, the man that matched the voice—it was the same person who had been in the tent the first time she woke up.

He was tall, too—though not as muscled as her previous assaulter. He was leaner, with a perfect posture and fluidity to his movements. His dark gray hair was plastered all over his face, and his face was scarred, and his eyes were a deep, deep black. Intense.

Cold.

For some reason, it made her inwardly shiver more than the yellowish eyes she had first seen.

"Stand up, Haruno."

"Go to hell," she muttered.

There was a sigh, before she was instantly hauled up, through her arm. She snarled again, and glared at him—only to have it vanish, when the same intense pain went flying around her neck. Her free hand went up to clutch it—only to find that she couldn't feel her skin there, only something cold, something...metal.

A collar.

She made a move to remove it.

He harshly took her hand off, and shoved it away.

Then he pulled her closer.

"I told you not to do that," he said, softly.

Her eyes, for a split instant, slid on his wrist, which was holding her own—he was wearing a silver something, similar to the one Kankuro had shown them earlier. Her eyes slid back up to his, defiantly.

Green eyes met black.

The shiver came back, and it scared her. His aura scared her.

Then, before she knew it, she was roughly shoved, and then tied with hands on her front now—she couldn't really protest, because she was still pretty weak from the beating, and her bruises that had never really healed. A blindfold was placed on her eyes, leaving her in darkness once again.

She hated the darkness.

A piece of cloth was placed on her mouth, rendering her speechless. She began struggling.

"And no eye contact. I'm your master now—you will do exactly as I say."

She kept on struggling—until a sharp object was placed on her neck, under the collar. It didn't take a genius to figure out it was either a knife, or something equally lethal.

"Soon, you will be obedient...Haruno."

For some reason, the words—and the cold, somewhat cruel voice—had her stilling.

...for some reason, she feared she would believe him.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_When Kiba finally woke up, he woke up groaning._

_And the first thing that came to mind was priorities._

"_Akamaru...where's Akamaru?" he grumbled out, rubbing his head and rubbing his eyes and trying to get his thoughts and his vision and his instincts—which was the main thing he has ever relied on, other than his canine companion—together._

_The voice beside him had him stopping, and sighing out in relief._

_It was a very familiar voice._

"_He's sleeping. He's weary and injured, but he's going to be fine."_

_Another breath of relief. Blinking slowly, Kiba focused his vision on the person who had spoken, and did not bother with pleasantries._

"_What the hell happened?" he growled._

_It wasn't Kankuro who answered._

"_Stupidity happened."_

_Blinking further, Kiba saw that it was Ino, and that she was folding her arms and snarling not at him, but at someone else inside...where were they, anyway?_

"_Where are we, anyway?" he asked._

"_We're in fucking Snow country, or did you forget?" Ino snarled, glaring at him—then glaring at the person she had been glaring at from the very beginning._

_Or rather, _persons_._

_Gaara. Kankuro._

_Shikamaru._

"_Where's Lee?" Kiba demanded, ignoring her wrath and her generally awful mood. "Where's the Hyuuga and Hatake?"_

"_Outside," Kankuro replied tersely._

_Silence. The dog nin tried to stand up—only to lie back down again, as his back ached and pain began shooting all over his legs._

"_Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he cursed, turning the air black and blue. "I need a fucking medic!"_

_Silence._

"_Where the hell is Sakura?"_

_...and the silence suddenly became eerie, and cold._

_And it was at that moment that Kiba began to realize just exactly how wrong his last question had been._

_Especially after Ino paled and fainted on the ground, and Shikamaru just silently caught her._

_As if it was all expected._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura had felt herself being taken by her chains out of the tent, and dragged away from the warmth and out into the very, very cold. Colder than cold.

She was still in Snow country, there was no denying that now.

Especially with the way her bare feet were numbing over the first few steps.

_Snow._

The little travel seemed too long, and she was still a bit dizzy to really take anything in—with the blindfold on, all she could really rely on was her hearing. At the moment, even that was failing her.

All she could hear was buzzing, and her own slow, sluggish footsteps.

It may have been minutes—or years. But all of a sudden, she was instantly pushed once more, and feeling warmth, and feeling relieved and grateful for a seeming second over it.

Then the blindfold was removed, and the gratefulness was gone.

She was roughly shoved down a thick, carpeted ground, her nose (halfway broken now, she assumed) practically touching it. She tried not to wince out in pain, and instead, opted to listen.

She knew she was being observed.

"Denkou Kashi, I presume?"

The voice was a male's—though it was slightly melodic this time.

And slightly oily.

"You presumed right," the man presumed to be Denkou Kashi—that scary, scary bastard that she would have loved to kill without a moment's hesitation, equipped with that voice that she hated so much—said, in his usual clipped tone. There was silence for a moment.

"Your reputation precedes you, you know. The bounty hunter that's been searching and killing leaf nin for years—all because of the desire to prove himself."

A pause.

"I wonder...what do you want to prove?"

"That I can give you one of the best slaves ever and join the ranks of Haburi in the future."

"And what will that bring you?"

"Power," Kashi said firmly. Coldly. "I've always wanted power."

For some reason, it made Sakura shudder. Remember.

_Sasuke._

There was a chuckle, both amused and slightly approving. "Well said. Though you realize you're going to have to work hard to achieve it?"

Another pause.

"I will do anything."

Just like before, to Sakura's ears, it sounded like a promise. A deadly one.

There was another bout of silence, before the shuffling of papers could be heard. Then, the swish of cloth. Then...

"So you've brought us Haruno Sakura."

At the mention of her name, Sakura looked up. Before she could see anything, she was immediately shoved back down through the head. She growled in her throat—then stopped, when her stomach was kicked again, enough to make her ribs crack. Her breath hissed out, then caught.

"You bitch," the familiar voice of the beautiful woman hissed. "You really should learn some manners, you nitwit."

The oily chuckle came again. "Now, now, Tesa...calm down. She's relatively new."

"But—"

"I said calm down." The tone was deadly serious this time.

A pause.

"Yes, master," the woman said reverently—almost meekly.

The shuffle of papers came again. "Anyway, where was I...ah, yes. Haruno Sakura." This time, Sakura remained silent, just trying to breathe. "Twenty-one years old, Konoha leaf ninja, the Hokage's apprentice. Impressive, I daresay...and with pink hair, too."

She felt the shuffle of papers stop, and the shuffle of footsteps replace them. She was being observed again. Through her line of vision, she saw feet encased in fancy leather shoes, almost like boots. They encircled her, slowly. She felt a hand touch a wisp of her hair.

She reacted immediately.

"You can't—"

_BAM!_

She was down on the ground once more.

The man chuckled. "Tesa, you need to control yourself."

"I'm sorry, master. She was being rude."

"That she is. Feisty, I see." The footsteps receded. "Denkou-san...how sure are you that you can control her?"

"I can control her."

"Show me."

As Sakura held her breath on the floor, she felt her collar heating up. Then, sparking. She screamed, and thrashed, and felt her eyeballs roll behind her head.

_Kami. Please stop._

The pain was so excruciating.

The man chuckled once more. "Now, Miss Haruno...what have you got to say for yourself?"

Silence.

"Fuck you," she rasped. Then she closed her eyes, and tried to think of lovely, lovely things.

_Naruto._

_Naruto, where are you?_

She grieved for what he had to go through the moment he'd been captured in here.

Sakura didn't feel feet kicking her stomach again, nor fists tearing at her hair or punching her. The collar had gone cold again.

"Such vile language. I believe she needs more work."

"I'll take care of it," Denkou Kashi said.

Another chuckle. It seemed the other man loved doing that.

Then the chuckle vanished—and his voice went eerily cold.

"I will give you two days. Make sure she will be as pliant as a dog soon."

"Of course."

"You are dismissed."

And the man vanished, and so did the beautiful woman. Sakura was vaguely aware of this—just as through the haze, she was vaguely aware that she was being blindfolded and dragged again, and that her feet were still numb, and that her ribs were aching and her stomach was aching and it felt like she had just gone through hell. She whimpered, and breathed harshly, and tried to decipher what the man named Denkou Kashi was saying.

"...and you will learn your manners soon."

A pause.

"Fuck you," she repeated.

Another pause.

"I hate you," she said, hoarsely. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate—you—"

In an instant, she was slammed against a wall somewhere outside that place, and hands were both on her face, then her waist. She cried out at the impact, and the pain, and tried to fight.

His hands were like steel.

She felt his breath near her cheek, and for a moment, was too stunned to do anything.

Then she fought again—because she would always fight to protect herself.

To protect others.

"N—no—" she cried out, as he came nearer, and tried to keep her in place.

"Sakura—"

"I—don't touch me—don't call me that—"

"Sakura—"

The panic seized her. It was happening again. Once more.

No one was coming.

"P—please—I hate—you—"

Then she was pressed against his body, despite her weak struggles, and there was nothing she could do. In the corner of her mind, she thought she heard the tone shift, along with something else.

"Sakura."

She continued struggling, continued breathing in pain.

"Sakura, stop."

...and she began to realize that the voice, though of the same man who was now her master, was very different this time.

Very familiar.

Her whole body went numb.

She refused to believe it, she refused to. Because believing hurt, especially if what you believed had been lies all along. Illusions.

"It's me. It's me," he murmured.

_It's you._

_You._

Her body went weak with relief. Her heart burst. Then the happiness came, and instead of struggling, she was clinging on now, hands desperately tugging at his shirt, even when she couldn't see him—because suddenly he was all she ever wanted to feel, all she ever wanted to be around her, in this cold, cold prison that she had been taken into.

_Safe._

_Keep me safe._

The bruised and injuries were still painful, but the feeling overrode it now.

"Kakashi..."

He was alive, and that was enough.

She buried her face in his chest and let the tears come.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

She was shaking in his arms. She was shaking so badly, it took almost all of his self-control to not just crush her in, and hug her. Comfort her. Make her feel better.

She was so, so cold. Her skin felt like ice, and he knew she had injuries everywhere. Bruises everywhere. Unable to help himself, Kakashi finally put his hands around her back, rubbing to soothe, to make the shaking and the shivering stop. He was trying to control his anger, too—anger for what was happening to her, for what she had to experience as a prisoner here.

This was all part of the plan.

A stupid, fucking plan, that was brilliant and horrible at the same time.

And it wasn't over yet—they were still being monitored, everywhere they went.

He clenched his fists, and began seeing red again, at the memory of the man in the tent—the one who had touched her. Touched her, and with the clear intention of brutally taking what wasn't his, and—

"Kakashi," she whimpered on his chest.

And that was all it took for the anger to disappear.

She needed his care right now, not his anger.

Trying to rein in rapidly-surfacing emotions, Kakashi turned to her, and kept on soothing. "Yeah, it's me."

She clung like a burr.

"I thought you were dead," she whispered, almost desperately. "I thought you were dead and—it hurts—and—Kami—"

"Shh. Sakura, shh."

For a few moments, there was no sound—only her harsh breathing, and her tears. She hiccupped, once or twice, her head on his chest, her eyes still blindfolded, her mouth releasing cold little breaths in difficulty. He should heal her, he should fucking heal her.

But his chakra was gone, too.

It will be gone until they escaped.

_We will escape. We will._

She spoke, against his skin.

"...Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

_BAM._

Then she punched him.

"Don't make me—believe—you're dead again. Don't _ever_. I'll freaking kill you myself."

And she abruptly fainted in his arms.

Kakashi stared at her in shock, one arm supporting her, the other rubbing his jaw—and knowing it was definitely going to bruise soon.

Well, damn.

Even without chakra, Haruno Sakura could still pack a punch.

With a sigh, the silver-haired (or gray-haired now) man carried his unconscious (_fiery, fiery_) slave, and looked around, to make sure no one witnessed what happened. Then he took off silently into their assigned tent.

He hoped there were no bugs this time.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**a/n**: By bugs, I don't literally mean the insects. Heh, I mean the device used for eavesdropping. It's the reason he never got to tell her sooner who he really was, even when she was already tortured._

_Anyway...here it is! Sorry for the delay. It's my finals week, so...been very busy. After finals week comes sembreak. Lol, I can't wait!_

_Next chapter: trying to find Naruto, snippets of the outside group, and some KakaSaku interaction (because hey, they're master and slave now) - and some cruel, cruel people, and some secrets. This will be more mature as it goes, with sexual content _very_ soon._

_Happy reading! Review equals love. So...share some love? Heh. :)_


	6. Unexpected Encounters

**Chapter Six  
Unexpected Encounters**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Something cold was touching her face, and for a moment, Sakura tried to understand what it was. It wasn't the wind, because there was pressure in the touch, gentle but very much there. It skimmed from her forehead to her eyelids, from her cheek to her chin. She heard a wet sound, a dripping sound, before it was overlapped by something else—a light voice, sweet and just as gentle as the touch.

The voice was chattering.

"...the first time I've seen the blue sky in a long time and even in this type of weather, that's like a miracle..."

Chattering.

"...said that it's a rematch, but didn't know when, though I doubt it's gonna come this early..."

...chattering.

"...not much to do except please the masters and make sure their happiness is catered..."

The word master had Sakura's heart jolting, the familiarity of it coming slowly.

With difficulty, she opened her eyes.

"...and it's not like everything's going to—oh, you're awake!"

Sakura stared.

A pair of brown, feminine eyes stared back at her.

"Thank goodness you're awake! I really thought you were going to die, what's with all the bruises you had—but then again, you've been reckless and uncooperative, so I suppose you needed those to—"

"Who are you?"

The girl blinked, her fingers stopping on Sakura's neck—she had a washcloth on one hand, and it didn't take Sakura long to realize that it was what she'd been feeling earlier all over her face. Mind churning with thoughts, she tried to recall why a girl would be wiping her face with a washcloth and talking about the weather and a rematch and masters...

_Master._

_Slave._

In an instant, every brutal memory came back. Abruptly, Sakura shot up from her position, startling the girl, who stood up as well—and ended up upsetting the basin of water balanced on her lap. It fell on the floor with a soft thud, the water seeping through the carpet.

The girl cried out in annoyance.

"Oh! Now look what you made me do! I'll get in trouble now!"

Sakura ignored her, and made a move to stand up.

"Oh, no, you don't! Sit back down!"

To the pink-haired kunoichi's shock, the girl managed to push her back down. She fell back on the cot with another soft thud, sitting at something hard in the process. It took her a second to realize that her wrists were shackled firmly, the metal chains trailing from them to the cot posts, located at each ends.

It took her another to realize that she had no wounds anymore.

And there was no more pain.

"You are such a fighter! No wonder they beat you up good! I think you deserve it!"

Wincing slightly at the voice (because it was sounding more and more like a banshee every time it got louder), she stared at the girl again, who now had her hands fisted and was glaring at Sakura heatedly.

Without further ado, Sakura glared back.

"Who are you?" she repeated.

"Well, now, I'm Anyi, and you are—"

"Release me now," Sakura demanded—rudely.

The girl named Anyi gaped, her brown eyes going wide. She had long, silky brown hair to go with the eyes, and a petite figure that was wrapped in very revealing clothing, exposing her cleavage and her legs for the world to see. She was very skinny, too, and quite short in height.

Slowly, Anyi broke out of her surprise, and glared again.

"Like _hell_ I would. You—"

"Release me now," Sakura spit out, making a move to stand up again. "Or I will kill you, you stupid slave-enforcer."

Instead of glaring, Anyi did the exact opposite.

She beamed.

Sakura snarled.

"Listen, bitch—"

"But I'm not a slave-enforcer," Anyi chirped, her beam widening. "I'm a slave, just like you."

Then the beam disappeared, and a vicious glare replaced it. "And it wouldn't be helpful if you called me bitch again—_so stop being rude._"

Sakura shut her mouth at once, taken aback. This was unexpected. She had thought this was another master, another brutal person, another one who would beat her up...

"So, what's your name?"

Sakura glanced at the cheerful-looking girl tentatively. There was no more glare.

"Sakura," she replied, albeit reluctantly.

"Hi, Sakura! I'm—"

"Anyi, yeah. You said that already."

Anyi pouted. "You're such a spoilsport. You're ruining my mood."

"You're weird."

Oddly enough, the girl grinned at that. "Yeah, I know. And so are you. Kicking and screaming the moment they took you in. You are such a little hellion!"

Not really sure how to answer that (because she was certainly _not _as weird as this girl), Sakura merely remained silent, and studied the shackles that bound her. They looked sturdy and tight, almost menacing.

"How do I get out of this thing?"

Anyi sighed. "You don't. So don't even try. You'll only hurt yourself, and I've just taken a great amount healing you."

Surprised, Sakura stared at the girl again. "You healed me?"

"Why, of course! I'm a great medic, so it was a piece of cake!"

"...but you're a slave," Sakura blurted out.

Anyi raised a brow, as if to say, _And your point is?_

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "How come you have chakra and I don't?"

Silence.

"That's not something you're allowed to find out, sorry," Anyi finally replied, sighing again. "So stop questioning already. Just sit still while I clean you up, okay?"

Silence.

Reluctantly, Sakura relented, and let Anyi take her arms, washing away the dirt with the still-wet washcloth. She closed her eyes, tugging her bonds every now and then—but it wouldn't budge, so she eventually stopped, and just let herself relax, even for a moment.

It lasted only for five minutes, before she felt Anyi stiffen beside her.

The washcloth froze on her shoulder, before it abruptly pulled away, and a lot of scrambling happened. Opening her eyes on instinct, Sakura looked down, her mouth dropping slightly open when she saw Anyi suddenly kneeling on the floor, her hands spread before her. Her head was down, too, her forehead fully touching the fabric of the carpet.

"Anyi, what—"

"Haruno. Aren't you going to kneel like a good little girl?"

Sakura shut up.

Froze.

Then, relentlessly telling herself to stay calm, she looked down, and sat up—but she didn't budge from her position on the cot.

"No," she answered softly. Firmly.

She heard Anyi gasp beside her. A moment later, the girl was frantically pleading as if her life depended on it.

"She didn't mean it, Master! She was only kidding! She's still new to this kind of thing, please don't be angry—"

"Get out."

Anyi became more frantic. "Please, Master, just one more chance—"

"I said get out. Don't come back until you are summoned."

The voice was soft—and very deadly. The babbling stopped, as more scrambling ensued. From the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Anyi stand up and bow profusely. Then the girl disappeared from her line of view, her tiny, bare feet moving as if something were snapping at her heels.

Silence.

Sakura remained where she was, head still down, until another set of feet came in sight before her—not tiny now, but large, and encased in black leather boots that seemed new and polished.

One boot came up to tap her lightly on her knee.

She jerked back immediately.

"Wha—"

BAM!

She froze, as the sound vibrated in her ears.

"It's master. You say that first if you're addressing me."

Indignantly, she made a move to lift her head.

BAM!

He kicked the bed again, making it wobble in the process—her chains stretched, causing her wrists to jerk back. It earned her a loud, sharp intake of painful breath.

Why was he doing this? Why?

"It's master. You will keep on disobeying, I will kick you harder."

A pause.

The words registered. Sakura's eyes widened, as she finally realized what he was doing. What he was trying to say.

There was an eavesdropper somewhere.

"So, do you understand me now?"

BAM!

Knowing it was all purposeful now, Sakura let out a pained, deliberate cry, her breath going out in harsh pants.

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth. After all, it wouldn't be believable if she was immediately compliant on the first day of her...housebreaking. The word made her grimace, but she supposed she had to get used to it now, because this was undercover, and she had to be the best actress ever to be believable.

She had always been good at hiding things.

Now was the best time to put that to use.

There was silence again, and Sakura thought he had stopped—but a real, startled cry escaped from her lips when, as quick as lightning, her chains were unshackled.

Then she was suddenly tossed over his shoulder, with his hands on her...butt.

This _wasn't _part of the plan.

"Put me down! No—AHH!"

The zing on her neck was like a warning—she quieted immediately, but didn't stop struggling, as sunlight poured in her eyes, signaling that they were on outside grounds once again. There were people milling about, some going about their business and ignoring her, others pausing to spare her a glance or two.

Her captor spoke. His voice was loud and clear.

Sensual.

"There are other ways to make you see reason."

As if to emphasize his point, he ran his thumb over her thigh, just right under her clothing.

Her mind blanked in panic.

She saw Anyi standing behind a tall man, head down, but giving her a worried glance. She saw another girl, a taller one, staring at her in utter shock. The next moment, the almost-blinding sunlight was gone. She was unceremoniously dumped on a soft mattress. Still panicking, she scrambled up and away—

He easily pinned her down with his own body.

"Sakura."

It took all of Sakura's self-control not to gasp or react at his actions. She remained still, and tried to keep her heartbeat in check, as his hands took a firm hold of her wrists, as his head bent closer, his hair—his _still _wild, _still_ messy hair—brushed against hers.

Then his breath was on her ear, warm and soft and...unexpected.

"It's okay now. No bugs in this room. Just don't yell."

And then he was off her, and the warmth was gone.

"Survey the area, would you? Befriend the other slaves. I will meet you here later. I still have some business to attend to."

His eye crinkled, the way it usually did—an assurance that this really was Hatake Kakashi, in the flesh.

_It's alright. It's okay. There was nothing to fear._

It didn't stop her heart from beating erratically, her emotions from jumping.

Cautiously, Sakura sat up from the mattress, biting her lip as she thought. There was still one thing she was worried about, other than the danger of their situation here.

"Kakashi?"

With his face covered by a dark brown bandanna, Kakashi tilted his head in her direction, hands on his pockets, usual slouch on his stance.

"...are the others alive? Ino?"

For a moment, there was silence.

Then he nodded his head, his eye crinkle disappearing, and his face becoming serious.

"I don't know. But I'd like to think so."

Translation: _I hope so_.

Sakura tried to ignore the churning in her gut at the possibilities. Instead, she let her mind get distracted, and let her eyes wander to the room they were now in.

It was still a tent, like the previous one—but unlike before, this one looked sturdier, with thicker poles and walls made not only of fabric, but of what looked like a combination between that and some marble. How that was done, or even possible, she had no idea—but it looked somewhat beautiful, somewhat elegant. The carpets were maroon, and looked lush and comfortable on the feet. The bed was big, filled with pillows and sheets and—

She stopped perusing, and blinked.

"There's only one bed."

Kakashi's brow rose.

"I'm not blind, Sakura. I can see that."

"But there's two of us," she blurted out.

He shrugged.

"Well, it's either we share the bed...or you can sleep on the floor."

"I'm not sleeping on the floor!" she said indignantly.

"...you're my slave. You will sleep where I want you to."

"_When no one's around._ You said this room isn't bugged."

"It's precaution."

Miffed, Sakura folded her arms. He did have a point.

Silence.

Sighing finally, she unfolded her arms, and gave him a reluctant nod.

"Okay. Fine."

He nodded his head back, apparently satisfied that she had given in.

With another sigh, Sakura frowned, and looked at him again, her eyes fixed on the bandanna he was wearing. "One more thing, though."

"Yes, Sakura?"

A pause.

"Can...can I see your face?"

His eyebrow rose again.

"You already saw my face yesterday, Sakura."

Her frown deepened.

"But—I was delirious! My focus yesterday was on killing you! Now that I know who you are...I want to see."

Silence.

"Sakura?"

"Yes?"

His one hand went up, his fingers lingering on the edges of the bandanna.

Her own hands gripped the bedsheets of the mattress, her whole body leaning forward.

He slowly, ever so slowly, pulled the cloth down...

Stopped, midway.

Then his eye crinkled again.

And before Sakura could even comprehend what was happening, he was out of the tent in a flash, leaving only echoing words behind.

_Be more obedient next time._

She gaped at the entrance, not sure whether to be angry or dismayed.

Then Sakura threw herself facedown on the bed, punching it as she did so.

_Ooh._

_Damn, stupid Hatake Kakashi. Damn him.  
_

He just _had_ to take away her only source of joy lately, didn't he?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The man who was sitting beside him didn't really look like he could live up to his reputation, so to speak. Kakashi had been watching him for some time now, from the corner of his eye—from the long velvety robes of maroon, to the slightly obese body said robe was covering. His hair was a light yellow, slicked back in a neat, fashionable style. His hands were covered in gold rings, with glinting gems in them—so was his neck, but only with one silver necklace that looked expensive, and looked exquisite.

At one glance, Yamagata Yasuo seemed to be ordinary enough: a wealthy, prosperous man, one who was contented on enjoying his riches. Who was satisfied with that, and in living a healthy, harmless life.

But then again, looks can be deceiving.

"Tea, Denkou-san?"

Subtly, Kakashi shifted his eyes away from his quiet perusal, and turned to look at a certain spot on the wall just as Yasuo turned his eyes on him, hands gesturing grandly.

"No, thank you, Yamagata-san," Kakashi replied, eyes shifting back to the man in front of him almost politely.

Yasuo dismissed one hand. "Now, now, you're a well-renowned man—no need for theatrics and all that. You can call me Yasuo."

"Yasuo-san," Kakashi said. "Please call me Kashi-san."

Yasuo's light blue eyes brightened up at this, as he sat down and gestured for Kakashi to do the same. With a snap of his fingers, a curtain on the right of the beautiful red tent was parted, and a girl dressed in see-through fabric—with a bronze collar around her neck—meekly made her way towards them, arms in front and eyes shyly on the floor. Yasuo snapped his finger again. Suddenly, the bronze collar glinted and the girl was abruptly propelled forward, throwing her directly in Yasuo's lap.

Kakashi realized she probably wasn't more than fifteen, and it disgusted him to see the pudgy man's hands cover her breasts and start squeezing and molding them. But he kept his face passive, and concentrated on the girl's face, which were still trained on the floor.

Her eyes were filled with terror and resignation, as Yasuo leaned forward and whispered in her ear.

"Go get me some tea, will you, Jin?" His hand trailed away from her breast and trailed down on a thigh, touching her through her cloth.

It was then she began to struggle, as the terror in her eyes increased. But the struggle lasted only for a while, as a few seconds later, the collar flashed again.

There was a slashing sound before Jin's head was suddenly on the floor, along with her body—though the two weren't attached anymore.

It took a bit of Kakashi's control not to fist his hands at the cold, careless display.

Silence.

"Tesa," Yasuo called out commandingly. Instantly, from the same curtain, the beautiful black-haired woman came out, hips swaying seductively and carrying with her a tray with a teapot and a cup balanced in it. She crinkled her nose at the bloody sight on the floor, but didn't comment as she brought the tea by her master's side, sliding her hand on his shoulders and automatically massaging them as she did so.

"Yes, master?" she purred belatedly to Yasuo, her icy and intense eyes fixed solely on Kakashi. Technically, he knew this wasn't prohibited, because he was still a newcomer: meaning his status as master only applied to the low-ranking slaves—and low-ranking, Tesa certainly wasn't.

"See that this gets cleaned."

"Yes, master."

Ten minutes later, the only thing that remained on the carpet were a few spots of blood. Leaning in his seat, Yasuo's eyes glinted, as he slowly poured tea for himself and sipped on it quietly.

"I never like it when they're struggling against me," he commented.

Kakashi, still silent, leaned back as well. Then he spoke.

"Funny. I always like them better when they struggle," he intoned idly.

Silence.

Then Yasuo smiled at the other's statement, showing off his silver incisors as they glinted.

_No, not harmless._

Kakashi thought he became quite dangerous right then.

"That is an intriguing statement, I must say," Yasuo complimented, finally putting his teacup down and joining his hands together. Slowly, he rested a chin on top of them, his expression going thoughtful. "Is that why you chose to make the Hokage's apprentice your personal slave? There has been talk that she's not very easy to control."

_Who said so?_

Instead of asking, Kakashi merely replied, "Not really. I can handle her."

A pause.

"Are you sure, Kashi-san?"

"Of course."

"I would like to see for myself."

Another pause.

"Do you not believe me, Yasuo-san?"

Yasuo smiled again. "On the contrary—I'd just like to see the progress." Before Kakashi could protest, the other man was already snapping his fingers again, calling for his slave in that quiet manner of his. Tesa appeared once more, hips still swaying seductively. Eyes still on Kakashi.

"Yes, master?"

"Bring Haruno-san here. Right now. Dress her up."

Tesa's eyes narrowed a bit, before going interested, as she bent her body in a graceful bow, showing off her cleavage. Then she disappeared once more behind the curtain.

Yasuo's hands disconnected, as he settled fingers on the cup again, and took a small, small sip. His eyes stayed on Kakashi, and while they were still friendly...there was something else glinting there now.

"Let's see how well you can control her sexual pleasure, Kashi-san."

It was then that Kakashi knew this was going to be more trouble than he thought.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Just because they took away her chakra didn't mean that she was completely powerless. Ninja was ninja, after all, no matter the circumstances.

And if there was one thing Sakura excelled at as a kunoichi (other than her awesome chakra manipulation, of course), it was stealth.

She had never expected the organization to be this big...and this ordinary. From the looks of it (and there wasn't much to look at, to be honest), it seemed like everything they needed were already inside. Sleeping quarters. Eating quarters. Training grounds. Entertainment tents.

Sex quarters.

Where were the prisoners kept?

That was what puzzled her the most—and what worried her. There were all kinds of places, except the most important one. In her head's thinking, there were only two reasons for this, really: it was either the prisoners' quarters were hidden from plain sight...or there were no prisoners at all.

But that was impossible. Because she hadn't seen Naruto or Temari anywhere, and no prisoners' quarters meant...

Her stomach turned at the thought.

She _couldn't_ think about it. No.

Them being unseen didn't mean they weren't here. They were, they had to be.

She just to look further.

She had been searching for a good three to four hours now—she couldn't really tell how long, not exactly. Sakura knew it would be highly suspicious if she kept this up, because after all, there were still highly-skilled guards stationed all around, both in plain view and in secret. While she had been fortunate enough to spot them first and avoid them in her impromptu surveillance, she didn't really want to push her luck.

Reluctantly, Sakura jumped down from her perch on a metal chain (why these people loved metals, she couldn't really understand) connecting two multi-colored tents, and walked as casually as possible towards the area where she knew the other slaves were either finishing their designated tasks or being ordered around—not that she was eager to join them. There were some whip-holding guards monitoring the slaves, and they weren't exactly pleasant—the look in their eyes showed all too well how amusing they found this organization, this business.

Disgusting.

Still, she could learn something from them. Or better yet, she could learn something from the slaves when the guards weren't looking.

Grimacing, Sakura eyed her dirty, sandaled—_freezing_—toes, hugging her plain brown overcoat closer to her body. It was mid-afternoon, the sun still bright as Anyi had predicted—and Sakura knew she had better get her ass back to her duties before they caught on that she wasn't where she was supposed to be, under watchful eyes.

"Lost, little missy?"

Oh, hell. Just when she thought she had gotten away.

_Busted._

Sakura cursed herself inwardly, though her facial expression remained the same. On instinct, she looked up—but before she could stare the speaker in the eye, she remembered how she was supposed to act and looked back down immediately, bowing her head and body respectfully. She knew the drill now—she'd been watching it, observing, for at least a day now, and that was long enough.

No slave who defied any of the masters lived to savor the triumph.

She wasn't about to risk it.

"I was just looking for my master, sir," Sakura replied—_lied_—politely. She was staring at a pair of men's feet, big ones encased in leather brown sandals that looked used-up but still wearable. She would have kept on staring, but a hand was suddenly on her chin, gently encouraging her to look up. She did, but instantly closed her eyes.

The male voice came again.

"Don't worry, missy—I'm a low-ranking master. Denkou-san is now above me, you know."

Because Sakura still remembered the rules, as it was written in the mission scroll, she slowly opened her eyes. She stared.

Anyi's master was staring back at her.

Silence.

Now that she was standing right in front of him, she could immediately see that he was taller than she had first thought—even with her not-so-short stature (well, as she liked to think), he was still towering over her. He would probably tower over Kakashi, too. As of the moment, the top of her head barely even neared his shoulder. He had carrot-colored hair, a gangly body structure, a gentle touch.

Mesmerizing green eyes.

Slowly, his hand let her chin go. The corner of his mouth quirked slightly.

"You do know you should be doing your slave duties right now, don't you?"

At the words, Sakura stiffened, and eyed him warily. Was he going to deck her now? Torture her? She braced herself. He looked harmless enough—but what did she know? She watched him shrug, his stance still casual.

"Not that it matters. Just be careful. It's not like you can escape from here, anyway. I know a lot who tried—they ended up dead."

Silence. Mostly because she didn't know what to say to that.

"It's probably because you're famous, right? Haruno Sakura of Konoha. No wonder Denkou-san's rank went up immediately. Lucky bastard." His tone was that of amusement, instead of resentment.

Sakura nearly protested that Kakashi wasn't a bastard, but remembering that he was _sometimes_—heck, he'd proven it time and time again—she kept her mouth shut and waited for him to speak some more.

Before he could, however, a female voice came and interrupted.

"Master Kan, I've been looking for you everywhere and...oh. Sakura! So this is where you are! I've been looking for you everywhere, too!"

It was Anyi. Sakura saw that she wasn't looking at her master's eyes, but said master was looking at her in quiet amusement. His hands went to his pockets, as he eyed Anyi with raised brows.

"If you were looking everywhere, Anyi, you would have found us instantly. It's not like we were in hiding or anything."

Anyi flushed at this, and fidgeted nervously.

"Master!" she stuttered. "It's not—not like I was slacking! I—I had chores and—and—I really was looking for you and—it's true!"

The master named Kan chuckled. Then he proceeded to pat Anyi—whose head only reached the middle of his chest—in the shoulder, his eyes shifting towards Sakura. Slowly, he nodded his head.

"Well, Haruno-san...it was nice meeting you. Anyi, go take care of your duties with her for now. She needs to know that she's just going to hurt herself if she keeps this rebellion up. I'll be in the tent."

He ruffled Anyi's hair almost affectionately, before walking away and disappearing from their sight. Sakura kept on staring at his back, bewilderment spreading all over her at his behavior.

Was this all a trick?

She switched her gaze to the girl standing beside her, still blushing and smiling dreamily.

It didn't look like it was.

"Anyi?"

"I—oh. Yes, Sakura?"

"...your master is very nice."

Anyi grinned. Then the grin dimmed, as she eyed Sakura seriously, with something akin to pity in her eyes.

"Not all masters here are evil, you know. So stop trying to escape."

That was very hard to believe, considering this was a crime organization—crimes thrived on evil, after all. Sakura frowned.

"You say that, but you have to remember he made you his slave," Sakura muttered, her tone almost defiant. "You don't call that nice."

"You don't understand. He's not the one who made me his slave—his father was." At the name, Anyi's grin disappeared completely, her eyes swirling with something Sakura couldn't really comprehend. It was somewhat like the look of a person who had seen the fires of hell and survived it. Then it vanished abruptly, replaced by a smile. "But the old master is gone now, and the Master Kan never harmed me. Not once."

_Unlike his father, right?_ Sakura wanted to say. But she refrained herself.

"He's a caring person," Anyi said, almost persistently. "I know that sounds ridiculous, and not all are—so you better be careful with the other masters. They're not as trustworthy as he is."

Silence.

"Your master...is very evil. I can feel it," Anyi muttered.

Sakura nearly raised a brow at that. Instead, she feigned nervousness and nodded reluctantly.

"But not as evil and powerful as the heads," Anyi continued. "Master Renshou, for example. But his slave loves it. She's a bitch and I hate her."

"Which is what you thought of me from the very beginning, right?"

Anyi looked surprised at this. "What? No! I don't hate you! I just think you're annoying."

The answer had Sakura frowning, and becoming irritated herself. "Well, you're annoying too, you know."

Anyi became indignant. "At least I can never be as annoying as that four-eyed bitch! She's so superior and full of herself and—"

"Well, gee. It's always nice to see myself being gossiped over. I'm so popular nowadays."

BAM!

Suddenly, before Sakura could comprehend what was happening, Anyi was down on the ground, though only for a second. The skinny girl was standing up immediately, flushing even deeper now and muttering apologies nonstop towards the newest arrival who had just slapped her in the head.

Sakura automatically reached out, glaring instantly before she could control herself. Then she stopped—hands in mid-air, and eyes suddenly fixed on the new person who had spoken. A girl—the same girl who had been staring at her earlier, while Kakashi had been carrying her.

An oh-so-familiar one.

Sakura froze completely.

Said girl merely smirked back, one hand on her hip and the other flipping her long, faded red hair behind her. Then she adjusted her glasses, her red eyes glinting with malice, sadistic amusement.

Recognition.

"Haruno bitch—quit your staring and get dressed. The masters are calling for you right now, and it wouldn't be pleasant to be late."

It was Karin.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The new man who entered the tent wasn't one Tsunade had briefed Kakashi about—nor was his name found in the mission scroll.

But then again, neither was Yasuo's.

He had a bulky, well-muscled figure, black curly hair, and a stature that was part-arrogant, part-strung—like a top waiting to take its spin, or a little bundle of energy waiting for the moment to be uncoiled and explode perfectly.

Only he couldn't exactly be described as little.

Quietly, Kakashi eyed the man as he interacted with Yasuo, then sat down on the other empty chair inside the tent, on Yasuo's other side. There was more talk, about some shipment or the other (however much Kakashi tried to understand, he didn't want to appear too interested, and so left them with their cryptic words, filtering and storing them in his head for later), before the man finally sat up straight, and turned contemplative eyes—they were dark blue and unreadable—on Kakashi.

Kakashi merely eyed him back.

The man smirked. "So, this is the famous bounty hunter who has just caught the equally famous medic-nin."

Yasuo nodded his head. "Why, of course. How rude of me. Renshou-san, allow me to introduce Kashi-san—or rather, Denkou Kashi. He's the newest pride of this organization."

The man named Renshou narrowed his eyes slightly at this, though his mouth maintained its polite smirk.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that yet," he murmured.

Yasuo laughed jovially. "Now, now, Renshou—just because you're the other pride doesn't mean I'll allow you to kill him, as I'm sure you want to do right now. He's a valuable member now."

Silence.

Kakashi and Renshou eyed each other quietly, one passive, the other calculating. Anybody with a brain could see the strain and tension radiating off in waves now, though Yasuo seemed content enough to ignore it.

Then Renshou nodded his head, slightly—almost as if in mocking acknowledgment.

Pretending it was no mock at all, Kakashi merely nodded back.

"Okay. If you say so, boss," Renshou murmured again. He leaned back in his chair, almost as if relaxing. How deceiving, was Kakashi's thought. How very deceiving.

Renshou made a show of looking around. "So, why am I here again? As I recall, I have not yet done most of my duties for the day. I wouldn't want to be slaughtered the minute our master comes back, you know."

Master. Meaning Humoki Kane, most probably.

Kakashi wondered where the leader was.

He wasn't about to ask.

"This will only be for a minute, Renshou-san," Yasuo assured. "I just want your...valuable opinion."

There was something in the words that had Kakashi thinking there was more meaning behind it—most of which were deadly, and probably dangerous as hell. It didn't help that the sudden glint in Renshou's eyes was more than malicious now, more than predatory, before the man tamped it down with effective, deliberate control. Before Kakashi could contemplate any of this, the side curtain parted again, revealing Tesa carrying more teacups, one for Kakashi and the other for Renshou.

Casually, Kakashi picked his up, pretending to drink. It wasn't like he thought there was poison there or anything...but no harm done in being extra cautious, right?

Before Tesa could go back to her so-called hiding place, the curtain parted again—and at the sight of the familiar woman clad in a sexy ensemble, Kakashi nearly widened his eyes in surprise. He remained calm, however, and simply looked on lazily.

Karin eyed him back, almost politely. She didn't eye the other two, but bowed at them. He noticed the collar on her neck—it was better-looking than Sakura's—and wondered how long she'd been a slave here. No matter.

At least she didn't recognize him, with his mask now gone.

Something Yasuo had insisted upon in the middle of their little chat earlier.

"She's ready, Master Yasuo, Master Renshou...Master Kashi," Karin stated, voice soft and seductive.

Renshou grinned, the energy barely contained in him now.

"Well, hurry up," he said impatiently. "Bring her out now."

It took Kakashi a moment to remember what Yasuo had said earlier. With an inward sigh, he tried not to think about how mad Sakura was going to be after this event was over. She was probably going to pound him until he bled. Not that it was scary, considering her chakra was now gone, and it probably wasn't going to be as painful as before and—

The curtain parted once more, as Karin dragged an arm inside, until Sakura came in view, her eyes fixed on him for a fleeting moment—one no one probably noticed, given how short and subtle it was—before furiously looking down.

Kakashi merely stared in shock. Not at her expression, no—but at what she was wearing.

His teacup nearly dropped at the sight.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**_a/n:_ **_I'm back. Really back! All of the schoolwork and projects and exams are done, thank goodness. I'm graduating this March. :) Yay. I'm sorry for being gone so long, guys. Thanks for the concern and some of the nice pm's. I'm so glad to finally be able to write again, after that nasty bout of writer's block. Anyway, after this I'll update "In Nine Days"._

_Next Slave Driver chapter title: Sexual Pleasures. The plot outline's already being made, and it's going to have...lots of surprises.  
_

_Review if you can, please? I would appreciate it. Thank you. :)  
_


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